Maine 4-H sheep team wins flock of awards at exposition

Forget ribbons and trophies. The coveted awards for youthful shepherds at the Eastern States Exposition 4-H Sheep Show last fall were specially designed pottery – bowls, flower pots, mugs, vases and clocks. Much of the pottery at the Big E went home with the Maine delegation.

During the two days of 4-H sheep showing, the 17 members of the Maine team not only competed in breed classes, but also showed their skills through a knowledge exam, a blocking contest, a quiz bowl, a prepared educational exhibit and several rigorous showmanship classes.

In breed sheep classes, Maine was well-represented, winning championship honors in many of the classes. Darcey Webster of Windham won Grand Champion Ewe and Ram honors in the Cheviot breed, while Roxanne Moreau of Durham took Grand Champion Ewe in the Cheviot Bred and Owned category. Grand Champion Dorset Ewe went to Leah Gankofskie of Clinton, brother Jake had the Reserve Champion Ewe, and Grace Stults of Windham produced the Bred and Owned Champion Ewe.

Shannon Svoboda of Caribou showed the Reserve Champion Hampshire Ewe. Natural-Colored Champion Ram went to Roxanne Moreau, and Marley Smith of Windsor received Champion Ewe. Nikki Champlin of North Yarmouth presented the Champion Ewe with her Border Leicester in the Other Wool Breed Class. Matt Campbell of Littleton received Grand Champion and Grand Champion Bred and Owned honors for both Ewe and Ram in the Rambouillet class.

Jennifer Campbell of Littleton took home Reserve Champion Bred and Owned Ram for the Romney class, and Liza Miller of Starks had the Reserve Champion Bred and Owned Romney Ewe.

Last but not least, in the Southdown class, Brittany Humphrey of New Gloucester had the Champion Ewe, while Chelsey Merrill of North Yarmouth had Champion Ram, Champion Bred and Owned Ram, Reserve Champion Ewe, Champion Bred and Owned Ewe, and Reserve Champion Bred and Owned Ewe.

Overall Supreme Champion Ewe, the best of all of the Champion animals, went to Darcy Webster and Overall Supreme Champion Bred and Owned Ewe went to Chelsey Merrill.

A hard day of showing was followed by the evening blocking contest where sheep team members tested their fitting skills on what were often unfamiliar breeds of “wild” sheep. Matt Campbell and Jake Gankofskie worked hard to take first place in the senior division. A special Sportsmanship Award went to Whitney Winslow of Windham and Andre Miller.

Showmanship is a challenging class and the Maine team gave a 100-percent effort. In Senior Showmanship, J. Gankofskie placed second and M. Campbell fourth.

In Intermediate Showman Meat Group, Webster placed first, Moreau second, Stults seventh, Svoboda 10th, and Melissa O’Bar of Caribou 11th. In Intermediate Wool, L. Miller placed first, J. Campbell fourth, and A. Miller 5th. In Intermediate Slick Shorn, B. Humphrey took first, C. Merrill second, and W. Winslow third. In the Junior Division Meat division, L. Gankofskie took first and in Junior Wool, N. Champlin captured first, M. Smith second, Allison Dahlgren of North Yarmouth, seventh.

The highest honor in Showmanship is the Supreme Showman Award given after a grueling contest where the smallest fault separates the top place from other highly skilled contestants.

Maine took home two of the three top honors with Brittany Humphrey taking the top honors in the Intermediate class and Leah Gankofskie rising to the top of the Junior division. Maine sheep “scholars” also won two of three top placings on the knowledge exam with Nikki Champlain receiving the high score for the Juniors and Andre Miller outscoring the other Intermediates. The Maine Team also placed second in Quiz Bowl competition.

Many Maine Working Steer youths participated in three tryouts throughout the summer in an attempt to win a seat to attend one of the largest working steer youth competitions in New England. Working steers are a young version of a pair of oxen.

Eight members of the “Maine Working Steer” team were chosen, attended Eastern States Exhibition in Springfield, Mass., and brought home several first and second place honors. The team competed with five other New England states. The Maine team placed second overall as a state in collective points.

Another event, the Working Steer Quizbowl, is a competition in which five teams of three youths compete to see which can answer the most questions about working steer. The Maine team of Katie Thuotte of Gorham, Tyson Chase of Kingfield, and Lindsay Bean of Bethel finished first in the competition.

Overall competition is broken down into two age divisions. The junior division consists of youth ages 10-13. The senior division consists of youth ages 14-18. In the Junior division, Katie Thuotte of Gorham and Justin Winslow of Falmouth tied for fourth place junior in overall collective points. In the Senior division, Stefan Winslow of Falmouth tied with a New Hampshire youth for second place senior in overall collective points.

A herdsman competition took place during the four-day stay in Springfield.

The youth are constantly judged on the theme and look of their display – a Maine pine tree theme was used – and its educational value. Youth are also judged on the care of the cattle, interaction with the public and overall teamwork. Maine placed first in this competition and earned very high remarks from the judges.