WILMINGTON, Ohio – Imagine 1,702 students with clipboards in hand, quietly standing shoulder-to-shoulder in four separate arenas, judging various animals under the watchful eyes of judges who wouldn’t hesitate to oust them from the competition for muttering a single word.

Such was the case at the 68th edition of the Wilmington College Aggies’ annual Harold Thirey Memorial Judging Contest for junior high and high school students. The annual event is for those students who are engaged in 4-H, vocational agriculture and FFA.

The event, billed as among the first in the nation each year and the largest student-run event east of the Mississippi River, was last month at the Champion Expo Center in Springfield, Ohio.

Students from Ohio and three neighboring states participated in the event, which tested participants’ knowledge of agronomy, poultry, dairy cattle, equine management and general livestock. Participants use these judging skills fine-tuned at Wilmington’s contest at upcoming county and state fairs and other judging competitions.

During the judging competition, students quietly congregate around 11 different animal-filled corrals, ready to hone their judging skills. The key word here is “quietly,” as any muttered word heard by the judges will eliminate participants from the contest immediately.

“With so many students there can be no conversation,” said teacher Katherine Owens, whose junior high STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) class from Springfield was in attendance. “Judges will take your clipboard and your pencils if you say a word or if you’re caught glancing at another student’s notes. It happened to one of my students last year. That’s the way it is the moment you enter the ring to begin the judging, no talking at all.”

Students were given ample time at judging a particular animal before an announcement was made for them to move to a different corral. The judging contest lasted nearly five hours.

Overseeing the proceedings from high above from the observation deck stood Ruth Beery, Wilmington College senior and president of the Wilmington College Aggies, a student-run organization on campus. Beery and her leadership team had their hands full that day, dealing with last-minute details. Fog and rain caused late arrivals, which delayed the start of the event.

Beery said she’s been impressed with the longstanding tradition of the judging contest, which she noted connects her and the other Aggies of 2026 to Wilmington College’s agriculture alumni going back to the late 1940s. She’s also proud that returning Aggies step up and take on leadership roles in staging the signature event.

Wilmington students do, indeed, run the show as they secure the animals, organize the logistics and get the word out to schools in Ohio and neighboring states, 4-H groups, FFA members and vocational agricultural classes.

“This is a unique Wilmington College opportunity that students at many larger colleges and universities don’t have,” Beery said. “It requires time-management and problem-solving skills, working together at a team and successfully managing people, animals and the use of equipment.”

Wilmington President Corey Cockerill was in attendance and said there is no better way to recruit high schools to Wilmington College than having members of your school’s largest ag club host one enormous event.

“With 1,702 students on-site, this Judging Contest is the College’s largest recruitment opportunity,” said Cockerill, who grew up on a multi-generational farm in Ohio. “This event is huge. We’re hands-on. We’re experiential and this is an example of our student pipeline and what we can do to facilitate it.”

The event is named in memory of Thirey, a longtime agriculture professor and Aggies’ adviser who died unexpectedly in 2021.

Top individual and team finishers were all from Ohio:

At the high school level, Nic Lindsey, of Miami Trace Great Oaks, was first overall individual in Agronomy. North Union High School won the team title in Agronomy.

Isaak Adae, of Fayetteville High School, was first overall individual in Poultry. Fayetteville also took the team title in poultry.

Natasha Grube, of Madison Plains High, was first overall individual in Dairy Cattle, while Arcanum-MVCTC captured the team title in dairy cattle.

Taylor Payton, of Miami Trace Great Oaks, was first overall in Equine Management. Logan Elm High School won the team title in this event.

Sydney Schiff, of Talawanda-Butler Tech, was the individual champion in General Livestock judging. Miami Trace Great Oaks was first with the team title in the event.

At the junior high level, Tera Fout, of North Union, was the individual winner in Agronomy. North Union captured the team title as well.

Kendall Miller, of Global Impact STEM Academy, was first in Poultry while North Union captured the team title in this event.

Chase Call, of Southeastern High, was the overall individual champion in Dairy Cattle. Southeastern also captured the team title in Dairy Cattle.

Zella Nickol, of Covington UVCC, was first overall individual in Equine Management. UVCC also captured the team title in this event.

In General Livestock, Tessa Lyons, of Covington UVCC, was the individual winner, while Global Impact STEM won the team title in General Livestock.