The Fresno State soil judging team placed 25th overall against the nation’s top agricultural programs in the Soil Science Society of America’s National Soil Judging Contest hosted April 25 and 26, by Iowa State University.
Competitors were tested in their ability to identify, evaluate, classify and describe soil profiles in individual and team competitions held at the Horticulture Research Station north of Ames, Iowa.
Junior Juan Magana (Firebaugh) led the team with an 80th-place finish overall and 724 total points, and was followed by senior Curtis Lefler (Hanford, 88th, 705) and juniors Tanner Ozuna (Hanford, 91st, 693) and Adrian Gutierrez (Merced, 95th, 686) in the individual standings.
Other Fresno State students who competed included junior Aaron Delgado (Avenal, 634), senior Desiree Hernandez (Fresno, 628), freshman Emma Fabbri (Bakersfield, 606), and seniors Carlos Javier Flores (Salinas, 579), Alfonso Zarate (Riverdale, 552) and Oswaldo Escobar (Mendota, 547).
Virginia Tech took top team honors ahead of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (second) and University of Wisconsin-Platteville (third).
Fresno State qualified for the event based on its third-place team finish at the Region 6 Soil Judging Competition on Nov. 10 near Humboldt State.
The team is coached by plant science faculty member Michael Sowers who helped guide the team to other national trips in 2018 (15th), 2017 (20th) and 2016 (18th).
INFO: Geoff Thurner, 559.278.7221, gthurner@csufresno.edu.
