The University of Minnesota placed 1st overall in the collegiate dairy cattle judging contest held November 7 at the North American International Livestock Exposition (NAILE), Louisville, KY. The margin of victory was 28 points over 2nd place Virginia Tech. Fifteen 4-year universities competed in the contest. Teams from the University of Minnesota teams have placed 1st overall in the Louisville contest in 6 consecutive contests and in 9 of the past 11 contests.
In addition to placing 1st overall, the University of Minnesota team was 1st in oral reasons, 1st in Brown Swiss, 3rd in Ayrshire, 3rd in Guernsey, 3rd in Holstein, and 5th in Holstein. Team members were Kjersten Veiseth, Zumbrota, MN; Ashley Hagenow, Poynette, WI; and brothers Matthias and Leif Annexstad, St. Peter, MN.
Individually, Veiseth was 1st overall, 10th in oral reasons, and 1st in Brown Swiss, 9th in Holstein, and 10th in Jersey. Hagenow was 1st in oral reasons (by an 8-point margin), 4th in Ayrshire, and 6th in Jersey. Matthias Annexstad was 7th overall and 10th in Holstein. Coaches were Dr. Les Hansen and alumni Alicia Thurk Hiebert, Eric Houdek, and Gabriella Sorg Houdek.
Team ranking: 1. University of Minnesota, 2. Virginia Tech, 3. Ohio State, 4. University of Connecticut, 5. University of Illinois, 6. UW-Platteville, 7. UW-River Falls, 8. Cornell, 9. Cal Poly, 10. Kansas State, 11. UW-Madison, 12. Iowa State, 13. Colorado State, 14. New Mexico State, 15. North Dakota State.