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WT Meat Science Team Takes Top Two Ranks in National Competition

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Chip Chandler Jun 24, 2024
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WT Meat Science Team Takes Top Two Ranks in National Competition

Copy by Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, cchandler@wtamu.edu

 

CANYON, Texas — The West Texas A&M University Meat Science Quiz Bowl team recently swept its national competition, taking first and second place for the first time in University history.

The team’s two squads faced off in the finals June 16 at the 2024 American Meat Science Association Reciprocal Meats Conference in Oklahoma City.

Since the contest began in 2002, a single university has secured both positions in the final round only four times. WT won its first national championship in 2020.

“This team has been working and studying for this competition all spring,” said coach Megan Eckhardt, a doctoral graduate student from New Braunfels. “Our motto is that, regardless of who was marked on the first or second teams, we were one team with one purpose.”

In the quiz bowl, teams of four compete in a double-elimination bracket. Each round features 20 head-to-head questions and 20 toss-up questions; teams that are quickest to answer correctly are awarded points.

Team members are Ryan Heitschmidt, a senior animal science major from Nazareth; Helene Keiser, a junior animal science major from Gothenburg, Nebraska; Kade Lawrence, a freshman animal science major from Canyon; Jacob McMillan, a May graduate in animal science from Throckmorton; Cole Petit, a May graduate in animal science from Seymour; Josie Petit, a sophomore agricultural media and communications major from Seymour; Daniel Raab, a senior animal science major from Fredericksburg; Clayton Stevenson, a junior animal science major from Earth; Cole Verret, a senior animal science major from Grapeland; and Spencer Walahoski, a sophomore animal science major from Overton, Nebraska.

The meat science team is an example of the University’s responsiveness to the Texas Panhandle, as outlined in the University’s long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.

That plan is fueled by the historic One West comprehensive fundraising campaign, which reached its initial $125 million goal 18 months after publicly launching in September 2021. The campaign’s new goal is to reach $175 million by 2025; currently, it has raised nearly $160 million.

 

 

About West Texas A&M University

WT is located in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. WT, a Hispanic Serving Institution since 2016, boasts an enrollment of about 10,000 and offers 59 undergraduate degree programs and more than 40 graduate degrees, including two doctoral degrees. The University is also home to the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, the largest history museum in the state and the home of one of the Southwest’s finest art collections. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and offers 14 men’s and women’s athletics programs.

 

 

Photo: Members of the national champion and reserve champion squads of the West Texas A&M University Meat Science Quiz Bowl team are, front from left, Megan Eckhardt, coach; Jozie Petit; Spencer Walahoski; Helene Keiser; and Clayton Stevenson; and, back from left, Zane Platter, coach; Cole Petit; Daniel Raab; Ryan Heitschmidt; Cole Verret; Jacob McMillan; and Kade Lawrence.

 

 

—WT—