Published: May 08, 2008 07:07 pm            

Grandview FFA named state champs

First team to win since ’60s

Despite several obstacles standing between them and victory, Grandview FFA won the state FFA meat judging contest.

Five Grandview High School students competed in the event on April 26 in College Station. Seniors Loni Woolley and Roddy Looper, sophomores Justin Clopton and Tanner Schmidt and freshman Mallorie Phelps won the state championship with 2,177 points, 24 more than the second place winner.

“We’re all pretty excited,” said Woolley, who coached the team the past two years. “We got a taste of victory at our first competition in San Antonio, and that made us want to win all year.”

And win they did. Besides first place at San Antonio, they also received fourth at San Angelo, fourth at Houston, second at Waco, third at Tarleton, first at Texas State University, first at area and first at state.

“Winning state was a sweet victory because we have been working really hard,” Woolley said.

Woolley won highest individual for the third year in a row, this time breaking the state record with a score of 745 out of 760. Looper was third highest and made a career high score of 729. Each received a top 10 pin.

Three things make this victory unique for the members. Grandview FFA has not had a state champion judging team of any kind since 1963. Also, Woolley has been coaching under the supervision of Randy Looper, the sole ag teacher at Grandview High School, and Roddy Looper’s father. He started the program four years ago.

The most remarkable thing, though, is that, unlike other teams they compete against, the Grandview FFA meat judging team does not have access to meat labs.

They learn mostly from slides and books, Woolley said.

“Every contest we’ve been to in the past four years we have pictures on powerpoints,” Randy Looper said. “We try to go to every contest to open the door so we can see everything.”

Judging the meats requires a lot of different skills, from a written test to grading. The team members unanimously agreed that grading was the hardest part.

“Grading is so varied,” Woolley said. “It’s the hardest thing to learn and get good at.”

Some of the members will be attending a meat judging camp in June at Texas Tech. Right now, though, they are taking a break before beginning preparation for the national contest in October in Indianapolis, Ind.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.