Virginia 4-H Dairy Quiz Bowl Team wins first place at national competition
The Virginia 4-H Dairy Quiz Bowl Team took home the top honors at the Invitational 4-H Dairy Quiz Bowl held during the North American International Livestock Exposition in Louisville, Ky., on Nov. 3. The team is now tied for second for all-time wins and is one of only four state teams to have won more than once in the 28-year history of the contest.
The four-member team was one of 19 teams participating in the event. Team members were
- Derek Heizer of Middlebrook, Va.;
- Chris Potts of Purcellville, Va.;
- Holly Sayre of Churchville, Va.; and
- Lauren White of Hamilton, Va.
The team coaches were Dave Winston of Blacksburg, Va., and Leslie Sinn of Hamilton, Va.
"The Dairy Quiz Bowl gives youth a broad background of the dairy industry," said Winston, a dairy scientist for Virginia Cooperative Extension who has been coaching the team since 1994. "They learn information about the dairy industry from farm to table."
To join the team, interested members must audition to show the knowledge they already have about the dairy industry and their potential to learn more. Members of the all-star team have usually participated in state-level dairy competitions. Practice for this year’s national competition began earlier in the fall and included a significant amount of individual study. Winston said team members also meet to quiz each other and discuss strategies.
"I will remember this team as a one of great character," Winston said. "They demonstrated a strong work ethic, a never-say-die attitude, and great sportsmanship as they competed for the title."
Virginia Cooperative Extension (www.ext.vt.edu/) brings the resources of Virginia’s land-grant universities, Virginia Tech and Virginia State University, to the people of the commonwealth. Through a system of on-campus specialists and locally based agents, it delivers education in the areas of agriculture and natural resources, family and consumer sciences, community viability, and 4-H youth development. With a network of faculty at two universities, 107 county and city offices, 13 agricultural research and Extension centers, and six 4-H educational centers, Virginia Cooperative Extension provides solutions to the problems facing Virginians today.
