Hale County 4-H kids recently competed at the District 2 Livestock Judging Contest in Lubbock.

Seventeen kids from across the county competed across three age divisions. The senior team advanced to the State 4-H Roundup, which is scheduled for June in College Station.

Participants in the contest are tasked with evaluating eight classes of livestock based on their knowledge, according to a news release from Hale County 4-H. Scores are determined, in part, by how closely the participants’ judgment aligns with those of members from the Texas Tech Livestock Judging Team.

Competition is broken into three age brackets – junior division (grades three through five), intermediate division (grades six through eight) and senior division (grades nine through 12). While all three divisions are tasked with classifying livestock, the intermediate and senior divisions also have an oral reasons category where they’re tasked with defending their choices to demonstrate their knowledge in greater depth, the news release notes.

Bryan Bernhard, Todd Beyers and Garrett Holder helped coach the teams.

Three Hale County 4-H members participated in the senior division, which earned Reserve Champion high Team Overall and qualified for the State 4-H Roundup. The team also earned third place in Beef Cattle, sixth in Sheep and Goats, fourth in Swine, fifth in Placings and third in Oral Reasons. Team members included Bryleigh Beyers, Jessie Chisum and Kellin Hart.

Beyers also earned second in Swine and fourth place oral reasons. She was named fourth high individual overall. Chisum earned second in Beef Cattle, fifth in Placings and took eighth in Oral Reasons. Chisum was named fifth high individual overall.

Four members participated in the intermediate division, which was named Champion High Team Overall. The team earned first place in Beef Cattle, Oral Reasons and Placings. It also placed second in Sheep and Goats and fourth in Swine. Each member earned additional accolades as individuals including the following:

Seven 4-H members participated in the junior division so they were broken into two teams. This is how those teams performed:

Team 1: Jaycee Barker, Brigham Bernhard, Zane Beyers, Christian Parten

Team 2: Hudson Brooke, Jay Holder and Cauley Parten

Team 1 earned third high team overall and placed fourth in Swine, fifth in Beef Cattle and seventh in Sheep and Goats. Team 2 placed eighth high team overall and placed third in Swine and sixth in Sheep and Goats.