The past two weeks have been extremely busy for members of the Blanco FFA Chapter as 22 members competed in 5 different state competitions across Texas.

Leading the way for the local FFA chapter was the Entomology Team, which placed second overall at the State FFA Career Development Events in Lubbock. Texas Tech University hosted the State Entomology Event, as well as several other contests, making it the largest state judging event in Texas. The entomology event itself proved to be one of the largest events this year, with more than 60 schools competing and over 250 individuals. Blanco’s team of Caitlan Gibbons, Taylor McCormick, Brooks Wyatt, and Brian Roche finished just 4 points behind 1st. Individually, Taylor placed 6th overall, followed by Brian in 14th, Brooks at 17th, and Caitlan in 33rd. In addition to their success at the state level, the local entomology team also claimed the Area VII and Hill District championships, with Taylor, Brooks, and Brian taking the top three individual places and Caitlyn finishing in the top ten.

After traveling to Texas Tech, the Blanco FFA sent three teams to Tarleton State University in Stephenville to compete in the State FFA Land, Range, and Dairy Contests. The range team consisting of Kaleigh Anderson, Taylor McCormick, Keaton Dodd, Grayson Elrod, and Corey Dowlearn did well, placing 7th overall, with Taylor and Kaleigh each placing in the top 20 individuals. Overall, there were 50 teams and 200 contestants competing in this year’s range competition. Also traveling to TSU and placing were the land and dairy judging teams. The land team finished 35th in the state. Team members were Lacee Hunter, Lauren Winn, David Hostetler, and Tanner Reddout. Blanco’s dairy team of Colton Childress, Britton Wagner, Elise Edmondson, and Morgan Lowak would finish the day ranked 40th in the state.

Finally, Alex Gustafson, Kylie Leachman, Maggie Dennis, Sam Isenberg, and Kellam Nabers traveled to College Station to take part in the livestock judging contest hosted by Texas A&M University. Each year, the livestock competition proves to be the largest in the state, with almost 1,000 teams beginning the year. This past weekend, Blanco ranked in the top twenty out of the state’s top 86 livestock teams advancing to A&M.

In all, there are over 1,000 FFA chapters in Texas, ranging in size from 1A to 5A. Each year, thousands of FFA members compete at the district and area levels with hopes of advancing to state and possibly even national contests. In just a year’s time, the Blanco FFA has won two state championships and placed 2nd, 4th twice, and 7th at state contests and has won numerous district, area and invitational championships as well.

Advisors for the Blanco FFA are Felice and Jason Marek.