Vet Science team competes at Nationals in Indianapolis

By Andrew Harrington

Ellsworth’s State champion FFA Vet Science team became the first team to go to FFA Nationals in Indianapolis in late October, representing the area against some of the nation’s brightest.

The team placed 21st of 45 teams, with McKenna Edgar taking 25th individually (gold score), Maddie Bowen placing 59th (gold), Peyton Berg 84th (silver) and Emma-Rae Hines 159th (bronze) of 178 individual competitors.

Edgar took first at the State meet individually and is now a freshman in college.

“It’s been an amazing experience. I just started college, so I’m kind of seeing those animal science classes. Seeing the amount of knowledge that I’ve learned through this [Career Development Event], things that I’m learning now that I’m in college, but I already have a solid understanding of, it’s pretty crazy to see just how much we really do know,” Edgar said.

The Nationals emphases the team focused on were avian and bovine influenza as well as animal shelter medicine.

“As a chapter, program, and personally, I am incredibly proud of each of these young ladies on the vet science team. I am incredibly grateful to Dr. Alyce Hines, DMV, for being willing to coach these young ladies. Her support and dedication to their team, helping them grow in their skills and passion, have been outstanding,” Ellsworth FFA Advisor Katie Christenson said.

Christenson said this team was the lone team to go to Nationals since she started as an FFA leader. The lone individual was Alex Brand in 2014 for contemporary speaking.

“When we first started, we all had a very strong passion for veterinary medicine,” Edgar said. “All of us are very passionate people, very dedicated. The stuff that we study isn’t very exciting for most people, but we get excited about it. We work well as a team.”

“We’re very hard working. We’d show up to practice on time, and we would dedicate all our time to practice,” Hines said.

The two said competing at Nationals was a stressful experience. There was a lot of time to overthink, the setup was different than they were used to and they were up against top-tier competition. They rose to the challenge.

Hines, a senior in high school, has taken some classes through CVTC, already reaping the benefits of the work put in through FFA.

“I can see some of the things that I’ve learned in vet science overlaps to the human world,” Hines said.

Edgar, who plans to be a vet in the future, said the team members have an unimaginable leg-up on other people.

“FFA means a lot to me,” Edgar said. “I don’t know where I’d be without FFA. You probably couldn’t pay me to sit here and do an interview. I did not talk. I did not put myself out there.”

“I used to be the quiet kid in the corner, and now I’m a leader and I’m outgoing,” Hines said.

The team had been working hard for a couple of years, and as they all knew each other from being FFA officers together, it motivated them all the more.