CHS students make big show at county fair

Summertime for most kids revolves around hanging out with friends, lounging by the pool and watching as much Netflix as possible, but for many kids at Cascade High School, summer means countless hours in the barn with their livestock, preparing for the Hendricks County Fair.

The Hendricks County Fair took place from July 17 to July 23, and our Cadets had an outstanding year.

In the dairy barn, champion senior showman was handed to 2016 graduate Dalton Smith, along with a first place and reserve breed champion ribbon with his Jersey summer yearling heifer. But that wasn’t all that happened for the Cadets.

Senior Chloe Whicker earned her own first place win with her Jersey winter calf, while her cousin, freshman Aubrey Whicker, earned a second place with her Jersey fall heifer.

Over in the goat barn, many students also made a mark.

Senior Rylan Rutledge won a first place with his Boer percentage doe, as well as a seventh, and fellow senior Erikah Chandler won fourth place with her Nigerian Dwarf doe.

Junior Austin Hudson earned a fourth place with his meat goat wether, and sophomore Ava Gabbard won third with hers.

In the sheep barn, there were few exhibitors, but a lot of impressive accomplishments.

Junior Makenzie Lewis earned a place in the senior showmanship honor group while also winning fourth place with her blackface commercial ewe, second place with her blackface commercial yearling ewe, third with her blackface commercial market lamb, sixth with her Hampshire market lamb and third with her natural colored market lamb.

Junior Caleb Needham earned sixth place with his Southdown ewe lamb, fifth with his Southdown yearling ewe and fourth with his Southdown market lamb.

Sophomore Joeleigh Rutledge earned a seventh place ribbon with her blackface commercial market lamb and fifth with her Shropshire market lamb.

Jesse Van Ness, a 2016 graduate, earned a fourth place with his whiteface commercial market lamb in only his first year showing sheep.

In the beef barn, freshman Dylan Kottkamp won senior showmanship, earning a spot next to Dalton Smith in supreme showmanship.
Kottkamp also won champion with his beef starter calf and breed champion with his Hereford heifer.

Keeping the winning streak going, 2016 graduate Andy Brock won first place with his Angus heifer, and then earned reserve champion and reserve grand champion. Brock also won a class with another Angus heifer and won another class with his Shorthorn plus heifer.

Rutledge also won third place with his commercial heifer while junior Katie Brock won second place with her commercial heifer.

Graduates J.J. Meredith and Ryan Reach did well in the steer show, with Meredith winning reserve breed champion with his Crossbred steer, and Reach winning his class with his Angus steer.

Sophomore Joeleigh Rutledge also won a first place with her crossbred steer.

The swine barn is where the real winning happened.

Cascade graduate Jesse VanNess won senior showmanship, and earned a ticket into the infamous supreme showmanship.

Along with that major accomplishment, VanNess won both a first and second place ribbon with his Yorkshire barrows, in which the first place barrow went on to win breed champion and fourth overall.
VanNess also won fourth with his Berkshire gilt, and a first place and breed champion with his Hampshire gilt, which then went on to win Reserve Grand Champion.

Junior Bradi Cheesman had her fair share of winning after earning a second place with her Berkshire barrow, both second and first place with her Berkshire gilts and then proceeding to win champion and reserve champion of the breed with her Berk gilts. In the end she won fourth overall gilt with her champion Berk.

Freshman Jason Mantooth also had an impressive show day. Mantooth won his class with his Duroc gilt, and then won not only breed champion with her, but fifth overall gilt.
Mantooth also had a second place, reserve champion Duroc barrow.

Dalton Smith had yet another successful day in different barn. Smith finished the day with a both a first and second place crossbred barrow, and then went on to earn breed champion and reserve breed champion with the both of them.

Smith also had a third place Berkshire gilt, fourth place crossbred gilt, a first and champion crossbred gilt and earned a spot in showmanship honor group.

Fellow Cascade graduates Andy Brock and J.R. Edmondson had solid performances with Brock winning third with his Spot barrow and Edmondson winning third place with his Berkshire barrow and sixth place with his Berkshire gilt.

Junior Thomas Long won a division champion crossbred barrow and a first place Duroc barrow.

Seniors Chloe Whicker and Erikah Chandler had good days with Whicker winning sixth with her crossbred barrow, and
Chandler winning seventh and ninth place with her crossbred barrows, and eighth with her Duroc gilt.

Juniors Caleb Needham and Caroline Edmondson both did well with Needham winning sixth with his Duroc barrow, both second and fourth with Duroc gilts and second with his Poland China gilt, while Edmondson won fifth with her Berkshire gilt.

Freshman Aubree Whicker won fourth place with her Spot barrow, and sophomore Josie Massie won a first place ribbon with her Spot barrow.

Junior Audrey Wehrman had an outstanding day by winning second and fourth with her Yorkshire barrows, first with her Hampshire gilt, sixth with her Yorkshire gilt and making honor group in senior showmanship.

Fellow junior Makenzie Lewis won a first with her crossbred barrow, third with her Hampshire barrow and fifth with her Duroc gilt.

Junior Katie Brock won third place with her Berkshire barrow, sixth with her Duroc barrow and seventh with her Duroc gilt.

Finally, Juniors Catie Cleveland, Chance Cornett and Brandon Brunes all did well also, with Cleveland winning second with her Poland China barrow, Cornett winning a fourth place with his Hereford barrow and Brunes ringing in third with his Spot barrow.

The horse and pony barn had a fewer number of Cascade contestants, but many still earned ribbons and even a banner.

Juniors Audrey Wehrman and Hannah Rasnake were our only exhibitors, with each participating in over six events.

Wehrman won two classes, while Rasnake won one class and got second in two classes, one of which led her to win a reserve champion banner.

As for the llama and alpaca show, many students from Cascade did very well.

Sophomore Faith Gomez won first place in her obstacle division, first in her pack division, first in public relations and first in showmanship.

Fellow sophomores Aliyah McGuyre and Rachel Trent also did well with McGuyre winning third in her obstacle division, second in her pack division, second in public relations and second in showmanship. Trent earned a fourth in her pack division, fourth in public relations and third in showmanship.

Supreme Showmanship, one of the most highly esteemed events at our county fair, had three Cadets battling for the title. Although the title went to Haley Mood of Danville High School, all of the CHS students participating did an amazing job.

All in all, it was a champion summer for many CHS students