COLLEGE STATION– The Texas A&M University department of animal science academic quadrathlon team won the southern regional championship on Feb. 2 in Mobile, Ala.
Team members included Ernst Bailes, Shepard; Scooter Sanchez, Belen, N.M.; Seth Solomon, Vega; and Scott Stevens, Bulverde. The team advisor was Dr. Jodi Sterle, assistant professor of animal science at Texas A&M.
The contest is sponsored by the American Society of Animal Science.
The academic quadrathlon contest is conducted in four regional competitions. All agriculture-related universities are invited to compete within their respective regions. Each university can enter a four-member team that competes in four different contests: a written quiz, an oral presentation, a lab practical and a quiz bowl.
Students on the team are tested on the basis of their animal science knowledge.
“The team was tested on their knowledge of beef cattle, sheep, swine, horses, meat science and several other topics,” said Sterle.
She also pointed out most teams are comprised of senior animal science majors; however, Texas A&M’s team was made up of junior-level students.
Nineteen teams competed at an university-wide competition in December at Texas A&M to determine who would represent the university at the regional competition. The advancing team then competed against nine other teams from the southern region for the regional championship.
This regional win advances the team to the national Collegiate Beef Bowl to be held January 2004 in Phoenix.
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