The team was led by Alexis Schultz, who finished in the top 10 of three of the contest’s five breeds, including the first-place prize in Guernseys. She also won reasons by a margin of nine points to become the contest’s high individual overall.
The New York team further included Mason Ziemba, who was second in reasons and fourth overall; Alysha Kuhn, who won Brown Swiss; and Elsie Donlick. They were the high team in Holsteins and won reasons. The team is coached by Doug Waterman.
In second by just six points was Florida, which was the high team in placings. They were paced by the second-place individual Jaylee Heijkoop. She also finished in the top 10 of three breeds, was fourth in reasons, and finished three points behind Schultz overall. The team was completed by Abigail Michnowicz, who earned two top-five breed finishes, and Aubrey Cook. Their coach was Gene Holcomb.
Third overall went to the team from Wisconsin, fourth went to Maryland, and fifth was Indiana. The top five teams all earned more than 2,000 points out of a possible 3,000.
Many different contestants and teams heard their names called during the results banquet on Sunday night because the five breeds of the 4-H contest were won by different individuals and different teams. Kentucky was first in Ayrshires, Maryland topped Brown Swiss, Ohio won Guernseys, New York won Holsteins, and Iowa was first in Jerseys.
Kelsey Timp of Iowa was first in Ayrshires, Karaline Schuman of Indiana won Holsteins, and Kelly O’Connor from Illinois was first in Jerseys. Kuhn and Schultz earned first in Brown Swiss and Guernseys, respectively.
In placings only, Jaden Wilks of Idaho topped the contest with a score of 482 out of a possible 500. That was nine points higher than Heijkoop, who was second. Wilks’ Idaho team was the first from their state to compete in the contest in three decades.
Other top five individuals overall were Hunter King of Kentucky, who was third, and Emily Fritz of Maryland, who was fifth and earned the Lee Majeskie award for the highest score on Brown Swiss reasons with a perfect 50. She was also fifth in reasons.
Following New York in team reasons, Wisconsin was second, Florida was third, Maryland was fourth, and Indiana was fifth.
This year’s contest featured 20 teams from around the country, the most competitors since 2018. The 75 individuals placed 10 classes and gave five sets of reasons.
Katelyn Allen joined the Hoard’s Dairyman team as the Publications Editor in August 2019 and is now an associate editor. Katelyn is a 2019 graduate of Virginia Tech, where she majored in dairy science and minored in communication. Katelyn grew up on her family’s registered Holstein dairy, Glen-Toctin Farm, in Jefferson, Md.