Special to the HT
MEEKER | 4-H members and coaches from both ends of the county traveled to Greeley, Colorado, this past weekend to compete at the Weld County Livestock Judging Contest on Saturday, April 11, 2026.
At the contest, there were 72 juniors making 18 junior teams and 52 seniors making 14 senior teams.
Rio Blanco County was represented with two junior teams, and Hattie Brennan was the only senior so she combined with a senior team from Logan County. One junior team consisted of Klayton Carroll, Milo Brennan, Copen Smith and Annabeth Moody. The other team consisted of Paisley Potter and Whitney Carroll, and they were combined with two kids from Weld County to complete the team.
The kids are scored in several divisions: beef, sheep and goat, swine, placings, questions, reasons and overall. This was a large contest with 10 classes to judge. Two of the classes had 10 questions each, and there were three sets of reasons for juniors and four sets of reasons for seniors. Kids are typically recognized at the contest individually when ranking in the top 10 and as a team when ranking in the top 5.
Milo Brennan placed 49th in beef, 5th in swine, 28th in sheep and goat, 5th in questions, 52nd in reasons, 36th in placings and 30th overall. Annabeth Moody placed 37th in beef, 26th in swine, 36th in sheep and goat, 14th in questions, 26th in reasons, 43rd in placings and 33rd overall. Copen Smith placed 55th in beef, 35th in swine, 60th in sheep and goat, 54th in questions, 30th in reasons, 58th in placings and 52nd overall. Klayton Carroll placed 61st in beef, 41st in swine, 38th in sheep and goat, 26th in questions, 49th in reasons, 67th in placings and 61st overall. Their team placed 16th in beef, 6th in swine, 10th in sheep and goat, 3rd in questions, 12th in reasons, 14th in placings and 10th overall. Paisley Potter placed 2nd in beef, 1st in swine, 24th in sheep and goat, 30th in questions, 6th in reasons, 5th in placings and 6th overall, earning herself an all-state point. Whitney Carroll competed as a novice junior and placed 57th in beef, 70th in swine, 52nd in sheep and goat, 72nd in questions, 54th in reasons, 60th in placings and 62nd overall. In the novice division, Whitney placed second out of nine in reasons and sixth out of nine overall. Their team with the Weld County kids placed 10th in beef, 12th in swine, 14th in sheep and goat, 14th in questions, 9th in reasons, 11th in placings and 14th overall. On the senior side, Hattie placed 20th in beef, 29th in swine, 29th in sheep and goat, 32nd in questions, 21st in reasons, 29th in placings and 29th overall. Her combined team with Weld County placed 2nd in beef, 2nd in swine, 2nd in sheep and goat, 5th in questions, 3rd in reasons, 1st in placings and 2nd overall.
From left, back row: Hattie Brennan, Milo Brennan, Klayton Carroll and Paisley Potter. Front row, from left: Annabeth Moody, Copen Smith and Whitney Carroll.