Penn Staters Excel at Northeast Student Affiliate Meetings
With thirty-five students participating on eight teams, Penn State captured first and second place in overall University rankins at the 2008 ASAS/ADSA Northeastern Student Affiliate (NESA) meetings. Four more teams placed in the top ten.
Penn State captured first place in the overall University ranking at the 2008 ASAS/ADSA Northeastern Student Affiliate (NESA) meetings held February 22-24, 2008, at Delaware Valley College in Doylestown, PA. They received the top overall honors on the basis of exceptionally strong teams in each of the competitive areas: quiz bowl, livestock judging and paper presentations. Thirty-seven teams from eight universities competed, with eight of the teams from Penn State.
Six Penn State teams earned places in the top ten overall teams, with the high overall and second overall teams from Penn State. High team was Penn State Team F, with members Nathan Heim, Animal Sciences, Harrisburg; Kyle Grim, Animal Sciences, East Berlin; Elizabeth Smith, Animal Sciences, Lebanon; and Kristina McAllister, Animal Sciences, Petersburg. Second high team was Penn State Team B with David Wilson, Animal Sciences, Port Royal; Chris Molinaro, Animal Sciences, McClure; Melissa Sankey, Ag Business Management, Clearfield; and Anna Smith, Animal BioScience, Belleville. Four other Penn State teams placed fourth, fifth, seventh and ninth.
Dr. Terry Etherton, Head of the Department of Dairy and Animal Science said, "I congratulate all the students who participated in this regional event. It is gratifying that their hard work and dedication is recognized through these outstanding results in competition with their peers. They are a credit to the Department and the University."
First place in the judging contest was captured by Penn State Team G comprised of Allison Walker, Animal Sciences, Philadelphia; Adam Zurin, Animal Sciences, Mount Joy; Janelle Hartzell, Animal Sciences, Slippery Rock; and Jessica Scull, Animal Sciences, Honesdale, with Scull earning first place individual honors. In second place was Penn State Team C, with members Jessica Rose, Animal Sciences, Lebanon; Amy Miller, Animal Sciences, Johnstown; Christopher Davis, Ag Science, Myerstown; and Tiffany Dean, Animal Sciences, Strasburg. Rose placed third in individual competition. Contestants placed six classes that included dairy, swine, sheep, beef, horses, and even a special tiebreaker class of honey. Other Penn state teams placed fourth, fifth, sixth and ninth.
In quiz bowl, Penn State won the top two spots. In first place was Penn State Team B with members Chris Molinaro, Melissa Sankey, Anna Smith, and David Wilson, edging Penn State F team of Nathan Heim, Kyle Grim, Elizabeth Smith, and Kristina McAllister. Two other Penn State teams placed fifth and tenth in the quiz bowl.
In the undergraduate presentation contest, Penn State earned four of the top five placings. Jennifer Rassler, Animal Sciences, Kempton, placed second; Nathan Heim, third; David Wilson, fourth; and Michael Woods, Ag Extension Education, fifth. Other Penn State paper presenters included Amanda Koons, Animal Sciences, Waynesboro; Tiffany Morgan, Animal Sciences, Mount Union; William Nichols, Animal Sciences, Tyrone; and Emily Caldwell, Ag Business Management, Beaver Falls. Anna Smith participated in the original research division of the competition.
Rhode Island University was named second high university overall, followed by the University of Vermont.
Thirty-five Penn State students representing the Block and Bridle and Dairy Science Clubs participated in this year's competitions. They were accompanied by advisors Vivian Baumer and Dale Olver.
