Dream it. . . Achieve it
They knew they could – and they did.
That’s the case for the members of the Turtle Lake-Mercer FFA meats judging team members as they achieved their goal of taking first place in the Future Farmers of America meats judging competition at this past week’s state convention in Fargo.
The trio of Rhea Laib, Aaron Klain and Rhyleigh Laib had the goal of taking first in the meats judging category at state, but they knew it wouldn’t be easy, even after going beyond North Dakota to get more practical experience.
Rhea had the top individual finish, placing second in the meats division, followed by Aaron, who finished in third, and Rhyleigh, who placed fifth, their combined finishes vaulting them to the team title.
“It’s exciting,” said Rhea. “As a team, when we got there and saw who our competition was going to be, in my mind it was down to about two teams, us and the team that we’ve been working with for the last few months, Kidder County.”
Her mind was spot on, as the Trojan team placed first, followed by Kidder County in a distant second place, trailing by 100 points.
“It’s something of a big jump,” said Rhea. “More than we expected. It was pretty exciting.”
