RBC I The 2011 RBC judging team wrapped up its season this last weekend. A new wrinkle in the schedule allowed the team to compete in Montrose at the third annual Tri River Area judging contest Friday, then continue on to Gunnison to compete in the 65th annual Gunnison County 4-H contest Saturday. Gunnison and TRA sweetened the pot by adding cash prizes for the top two senior and junior teams who competed in both contests. The RBC junior team came up just two places out of the money this year.We don’t have a result tally from TRA at press time. So, our fans have to enjoy the highlights until we release our final article of the year with all the individual and team accomplishments.RBC entered three junior teams and a complete senior team at TRA. Madi Shults, Kaylee Mecham, Sam Lapp and Alanna Wiley finished third overall. Kaylee Mecham won reasons in the junior division and Madi placed third in reasons as well.Macy Collins tied for third in the sheep division. Macy can sort sheep and she rarely misses the goat classes. She was also fourth in beef and eighth in reasons. (We just scratch our heads cause there ain’t no way she should ever be this successful this early considering her urban background and no discernible genetic threads whatsoever that would tie her to showing and judging. But, we’ll just roll with it.)Alanna Wiley placed in the top 10 in beef. Alanna is putting things together and has enjoyed a successful judging season. Next year is going to be just as fun and rewarding as 2011.Andy and Lauren Urista, Tannen Kennedy, Alexis Wiley and Faith Ann Goedert also marked cards at TRA. Andy, Macy and Tannen’s team finished sixth overall. Alexis Wiley, Lauren Urista and Faith Ann’s team finished seventh out of 13 county 4-H clubs that competed at the TRA contest.Maclaine, Layne Mecham, Sebastian Clarke and Sam Baylie judged on the senior side. Maclaine tied for fourth in reasons and fifth in swine. Layne hadn’t judged since the first of April and he was a little rusty. But, he will spend the next few weeks preparing for the state contest at Colorado State later in June.Sebastian and Sam are considering the June conference as well. A little more experience and these two young men will build a competitive team real quick.Maclaine will not compete this year at the state 4-H contest as she will be competing at the Royal Highland Show in Edinburgh, Scotland, with her FFA team.After the TRA competition, we jumped back in the van and went on to Gunnison. That contest first began in 1947. Most who judged in 4-H remember who did well in two contests held in Colorado: state conference and the Gunnison contest. Macy, Madi and Maclaine are third generation judgers at Gunnison. Their granddads, Forrest Nelson and Otto Shults, judged there in the ‘60s, Macy’s mom, Kathy, judged with uncle Chris Nelson in the ‘80s, and Maclaine and Madi’s dad competed at the revered contest a couple of times in the ‘80s as well. Now, these young ladies have done a whale of a job in Gunnison in the 21st century, surpassing former Rio Blanco accomplishments by quite a bit. In the junior division, we took three teams. Samantha Lapp, Madi Shults, Macy Collins, Kaylee Mecham, Alanna and Alexis Wiley, Andy Urista, Faith Ann Goedert, Lauren Urista and Tannen Kennedy.Individually, Madi was ninth in beef, 10th in sheep, third in swine, third in reasons, third in placings and second overall; winning another coveted Gunnison leather plaque for the second year in a rowMacy placed fifth in the sheep division and 14th in reasons, only out of the top 10 by three points. A couple more points in the beef and swine and she would have been in the top 10 in each category. In the senior division, Maclaine was third in sheep, eighth in placings, ninth in reasons and fifth overall. Layne, Sebastian and Sam were just out of the top 10.We would like to thank Dale Dunbar with White River Electric, Josh and Amy Halstead and Murdochs in Craig for their contributions that helped keep us on the road. Also, we appreciate Forrest and Connie Nelson, Paul and Shannon Sheridan and Mike and Mary Baylie for keeping livestock in front of us. As well as Donna Collins for making sure we have ice cream after a hard work day.The Rangely end of the RBC judging team supporters are too deep to list for this article but you are not forgotten and will be recoginized in future articles throughout the summer.
