Texas A&M poultry judging team repeats as national champions
Mallori Williams takes individual first place overall
Contact(s): Bill Gibbs, 979-777-0171,billgibbs@tamu.edu
Dr. Jason Lee, 979-845-1654,jlee@poultry.tamu.edu
The event was held April 2-3 at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. Twelve universities from throughout the nation participated.
The Aggie team also won the fall 2008 championship and has won six of the past seven national championships for a total of 23 national championships overall. The championship competitions are presented twice each year.
The team also took first place in the egg production division and the breeder selection division, and second place in the market products division.
For the fifth time in a row, the top contestant was an Aggie. Mallori Williams of Refugio was the high individual overall winner and won third place in the breeder selection division, the egg production division and the market products division.
Nathan Fuchs of Cameron took third place individual overall. Brian Zbikowski of Rockdale won fifth place overall, and Joshua Garcia of La Vernia took sixth place in the egg production division.
Kevin Ellis of Midlothian was the alternate individual overall.
The team is coached by Dr. Jason Lee, assistant professor in the department of poultry science.
The U.S. Poultry and Egg Association National Poultry Judging Contest was established to increase student enrollment in poultry science, according to information from the organization. Teams compete in production judging, breed selection and market products judging. Competition is based on how well participants have mastered the U.S. Department of Agriculture rules and regulations governing the grading of eggs and poultry carcasses.
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