Cal Poly Teams Rank Platinum and Gold at Regional Dairy Challenge

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 8, 2016

Contact: AnnMarie Cornejo 
805-756-2427; ancornej@calpoly.edu

SAN LUIS OBISPO — Cal Poly dairy science students took top honors at the 11th annual Western Regional Dairy Challenge held Feb. 25-27 in Tulare, Calif. 

Twenty-three Cal Poly students, coached by Professor Stan Henderson, attended the event. Participants working on teams with students from other universities, assessed all aspects of a working dairy farm, including facilities, nutrition, financials, reproduction and animal health. 

Cal Poly students were on three teams ranked as platinum and three teams ranked gold. They were among 54 students from five western U.S. universities and one Canadian college. 

The Western Dairy Challenge is a three-day educational competition designed to prepare students for dairy careers. Students collaborated on a 20-minute team presentation that detailed their observations and suggestions to a panel of judges. Teams were ranked on how well their evaluations matched the judges’ evaluations of the dairy operation. 

Cal Poly students Randy Edwards, Antoinette Silva, Annalicia Luis, Collin Fernandes, John Schoneveld, Kathleen Migliazzo and Marlena Wagner were on platinum-ranked teams. Justine DeVries, Jacquelyn Kasbergen, Francesca Gambonini, Alison Sherman, Davis Neary andMarilyn Van Beek were on gold-level teams. 

A Cal Poly team will travel to the 2016 North American Dairy Challenge in Syracuse, N.Y., April 7- 9 to represent the university in the national contest. 

About the North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge: 
The Western Dairy Challenge is under the guidance and support of the North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge, established in April 2002 as a management contest to incorporate evaluation of all aspects of a specific dairy business. For more information, visit www.dairychallenge.org. 

About Cal Poly’s College of Agriculture, Food & Environmental Sciences
Cal Poly is a nationally ranked, comprehensive polytechnic university. The university’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences is comprised of expert faculty members who take pride in their ability to transform academically motivated students into innovative professionals ready to solve the complex challenges associated with feeding the world in sustainable ways. Students have access to state-of-the-art laboratories, including ranch land, orchards, vineyards and forests, all of which provide the basis for Cal Poly’s Learn by Doing methodology. It is the fifth-largest college of agriculture in the country, with 4,000 undergraduate students. 

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