Virginia Tech Soil Judging Team members pictured from left to right: Keith Trent, Randy Cosby, Dan Johnson, Coach Nick Haus, Derik Cataldi, Heather Taylor, Hannah Clayton, and Nina O'Malley. Not pictured: Meagan Ormand and Coach John Galbraith.
BLACKSBURG, Va., June 4, 2009 – The Virginia Tech Soil Judging Team in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences won first place at the North American College Teachers of Agriculture National Contest in Wooster, Ohio, on April 18.
Virginia Tech finished first out of 15 universities competing and was followed by Purdue University, Northwest Missouri State University, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and University of Wisconsin-River Falls, respectively.
Virginia Tech’s team members were:
The Virginia Tech team placed high in the individual event as well: Cataldi placed third, Johnson placed fourth, Clayton placed seventh, and Taylor placed 11th.
The team – coached by John Galbraith, associate professor of crop and soil environmental sciences and crop and soil environmental sciences graduate student Nick Haus – was unfazed by having to judge an unfamiliar soil type. “The majority of teams we competed against were experienced in describing glaciated areas, yet our team of new judges excelled and surpassed the ‘home-court’ favorites. This win is a testament to the quality of our soils program and the students in our department at Virginia Tech, including Coach Nick Haus, who took the team to the contest,” said Galbraith.