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Practice
Makes Perfect for Tuscaloosa 4-H'er
Auburn, Jan 31, 2002 ---
All competitors know that
practice is required to be successful, and for one Tuscaloosa County
4-H'er, practice makes for a perfect score.
Heather Reach, a high
school junior, earned a perfect score of 300 in meats identification
at the recent National Western Meats Judging Contest held at
Colorado State University.
Reach is modest about
her accomplishment.
"I knew I had done
well, but it never really occurred to me that I could have a perfect
300," says Reach. "But meats identification is one area
that our coach Johnny Gladney stresses."
"I think at the
awards ceremony I was more surprised by how low some of the other
team's identification scores were."
Heather is the third
member of her family to be active, not only in Tuscaloosa 4-H but to
compete in meat judging nationally as well. Older brothers, Grady
and Patrick, competed at the National Western contest in 1999.
Perfect scores are not
unheard of in meats judging, but they are rare. In fact, the last
time there was a perfect score in meats identification at the
National Western, it was earned by another Tuscaloosa County 4-H'er.
Emily Thorne was the top
meats identification competitor in 1997. Thorne's younger brother,
Ellis, was one of Reach's teammates this year.
"I think Heather's
success is related to several factors," says Gladney,
Tuscaloosa County Extension agent. "She's a very bright young
woman, and she's also a very hard worker. She put in the hours of
study and practice. The payoff was the perfect score in
Colorado."
Reach and her teammates'
hard work paid off. The Alabama team captured first place overall at
the National Western Contest, beating out teams from Texas and
Kentucky.
The team included Reach,
Rebecca Wiggins of Pickens County, and Ellis Thorne and Michael
Polke of Tuscaloosa County.
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