Land judging team wins district; qualifies for state contest
Most high school students win competitions on the field or court, but this group of Mead students found success in a different field.
Land judging – an agricultural competition where students evaluate and rate soil – brought success to Mead FFA members. Ag teacher Cole Blomendahl did lots of preparing, leading Mead to be area champions of the district competition on Oct. 7, 2026.
“We worked on identifying the factors of soil and then applying those factors to give us the actual class of land,” Blomendahl said. “They worked very hard.”
Mead had four students place in the top 10 at districts. Sophomore Javier Portillo placed first, freshman Maci Lamprecht placed third, senior Abram Lee placed fifth, and junior Will Ellison placed ninth.
Lee qualified for state all four years of high school, and was glad to keep his tradition alive.
“I thought it was special to make it all four years,” Lee said. “I kind of knew I already would make it (to state), but I was also hoping to do one of the best in our district. I got top five, so that’s not terrible.”
Although hearing your name being announced for state is a great feeling, land judging still includes struggles. Ellison endured a few setbacks in the state competition.
“It was kind of cold at state, and the dirt was super hard, so you couldn’t really ribbon the soil properly,” Ellison said. “They didn’t dig the holes out very well, so you would slip trying to see the topsoil thickness.”
While upperclassmen like Ellison and Lee can be team leaders, underclassmen represent the future of the FFA.
“We have some underclassmen who are very attentive to detail and can retain information,” Blomendahl said. “It’s been a couple years since we’ve had such a strong showing at state.”
One underclassman who found great success was Lamprecht. With this being her first year doing the competition, placing so high was a shock.
“I didn’t believe it,” Lamprecht said. “I thought everybody was lying to me.”
After having four students place in the top 10 at districts, the pressure for state contest was high. With more schools and more talent, Blomendahl wasn’t sure where his team would stand.
“Initially, we thought we had a rough day after we heard the results at first; but there’s a lot of good land judging teams in the state,” Blomendahl said. “We still got 12th overall out of 30 teams, which was really well. It’s a very competitive contest at the state level.”
Blomendahl praised the members' focus and dedication, adding that their success in the final land judging scores shows exactly how hard work pays off.
“I’m just real proud of the kids,” Blomendahl said. “I’m happy with the way they competed, and I appreciate the opportunity to work with them.”
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