Soils Judging Team

The Regional Soil Judging Contest was held in September.  It was hosted
by the University of Illinois and held in Marshall, Ill.

Six students placed in the Top 15:

Joey Dunn, 2nd
Allison Bechman, 4th
Cody Fink, 6th
Austin Mattern, 7th
Betsy Webb, 12th
Nic Meller, 13th

Other participants were: Jeannie Ross, Joyce Lok, Ean Donohue, Wes
Myers, and Chris Freeland.

The team placed 1st in the Team Judging portion of the competition, and
placed 1st overall in the contest, which qualified us to compete at
National Contest in Kingston, R.I. in April.

The Purdue Soils Team is getting ready to celebrate its 50th anniversary
in 2009. Plans are in the works to celebrate this milestone. There will
be more information in the next newsletter.

Crops Judging Team

Eric Bahler, Katie Hardy, and Kyle Stull, the Purdue Crops A Team,
placed 1st and Roy Cooper, Rachel Doctor, and Ben Spencer, the Purdue
Crops B Team, placed 2nd in October at the Southeastern regional
contest. Katie was also top individual, Ben was 2nd individual, and Roy
was 3rd individual.

Eric Bahler, Ben Spencer, and Roy Cooper placed 7th at the Kansas City
national contest in November. Ben was 10th individual in identification.

Katie Hardy, Eric Bahler, and Ben Spencer placed 6th at the Chicago
national contest in November. Ben was 10th individual in identification.

Turf Bowl

Purdue took five teams to the 14th Annual Collegiate Turf Bowl
competition hosted during the 2008 Golf Course Superintendents
Association of America (GCSAA) International Golf Course Conference and
Show. The teams placed 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 18th and 26th out of a record 92
teams. The team participants were: Steve Ruckman, Chase Bonnell, Matthew
Johnson, J.W. Potter, Chris Ryan, Chris Ulrich, Jake Walston, Jack
Weatherwax, Neal Sitzman, Eric Haub, Eric Wanstrath, Brittney Ray, Tracy
Tudor Jr., Jeff Jones, Daniel Heiss, Justin Milcarek, Andrew Miller,
David Cooper, Phillip Fischer, and Matt Sumpter.  The teams were coached
by Jared Nemitz and Adam Moeller and advised by Cale Bigelow.

Steve Ruckman, Jonah Snyder, Jack Weatherwax, and Neal Sitzman also
competed in the Sports Turf Managers Association 4th annual Student
Challenge in Phoenix, Ariz. in mid-January. The team placed 4th out of
35 teams. The team was coached by Jared Nemitz and Adam Moeller and
advised by Cale Bigelow.

Forage Bowl

Lori Unruh Snyder coached Katie Burger, Katie Hardy, and Matthew Stine
at the AFGC Forage Bowl on January 28 in Louisville, Ky. The team came
home with 2nd place and a $300 cash prize.

ASA/CSSA/SSSA Annual International meetings in New Orleans, La.

Joyce Lok was a Golden Opportunity Scholar.

Eric Miller was elected President of Student ASA.

Brad Paulus and Kyle Schwarzkopf were named committee chairs.

Jenny Campbell, Logan Cass, and Katie Hardy received 4th place in the
Group Poster contest.

Eric Miller, Charlie Zila, Jill Recker and Carla Harper had research
posters.

Allen Bedel, Cassie Haskett, Bill Huffmeyer, Brian Scheidler competed in
the Quiz Bowl.

Katie Burger and Logan Cass were voting delegates.