Kansas Team Wins Regional Competition

kneeling (l to r): Matti Kuykendall, assistant coach; Mickey Ransom, coach. Front row (l to r): Michelle Busch, holding 1st individual; Erin Bush, holding 3rd individual; Dorothy Menefee, holding 3rd place team in group judging; Kyle Stropes, holding 1st place team overall; Reed Koop. Back row (l to r) : Holly Laughlin; Garrison Gundy; John Bergkamp; Jessica Barnett; Evelyn Nordberg; Jeffrey Albers; Christina Wilson — Kneeling (l to r): Matti Kuykendall, assistant coach; Mickey Ransom, coach. Front row (l to r): Michelle Busch, Erin Bush, Dorothy Menefee, Kyle Stropes, Reed Koop. Back row (l to r) : Holly Laughlin; Garrison Gundy; John Bergkamp; Jessica Barnett; Evelyn Nordberg; Jeffrey Albers; Christina Wilson. Photo courtesy of K-State Research & Extension

The Kansas State University Soil Judging Team won the Region 5 Soil Judging Contest hosted by Missouri State University in Springfield, Mo. from September 16 – 20, 2013. The team took first place overall and third in group judging.

Michelle Busch was 1st High Individual; Erin Bush was 3rd High Individual; and Dorothy Menefee was 8th High Individual.

The K-State team is coached by Mickey Ransom, professor of agronomy, and assisted by Kim Kerschen, Garden Plain, Kan. and Matti Kuykendall, Osage City, Kan., who are both graduate students in agronomy.

K-State soil judging team members and their hometowns include:

Michelle Busch, senior, Shawnee (1st Individual)
Erin Bush, freshman, Franklin, Ind. (3rd Individual)
Jeffrey Albers, junior Oakley
John Bergkamp, sophomore, Garden Plain
Jessica Barnett, senior, Belleville
Garrison Gundy, junior, Halstead
Reed Koop, sophomore, Abilene
Holly Laughlin, sophomore, Haven
Dorothy Menefee, senior, Spring Hill
Evelyn Nordberg, junior, Fayetteville, N.Y.
Kyle Stropes, senior, Hutchinson
Christina Wilson, senior, Hartford, Kan.

The contest is an activity of the American Society of Agronomy and the Soil Science Society of America.