Dairy cattle judges from 22 national and regional universities competed in the fifteenth annual Accelerated Genetics Dairy Cattle Judging Contest held Sunday, September 14, 2008 in Viroqua, Wis. Leading UW-Madison Team White was Ben Sarbacker of Verona, Wis. finishing fifth high individual overall with 675 points. Sarbacker also placed first in Holsteins and was fifth in oral reasons. Brian Coyne of Spring Valley, Wis. earned top honors in the Milking Shorthorn breed. Team White placed fourth overall with 1950 points, 61 points behind first place University of Minnesota. They also earned third place in Oral Reasons, second in Guernsey and third in Brown Swiss.

Team Cardinal placed fifth overall with 1,926 points and placed fifth in Holsteins. Kelly Sime of Stoughton, Wis. led the team earning seventh high individual overall with 665 points and placing third in Jerseys.

Darci O”Brien of Stueben, Wis. judged independently for UW and placed tenth in oral reasons. O”Brien, a first year judge, had no previous dairy judging experience before practice began in late August.

Ted Halbach, dairy cattle evaluation instructor, and Dave Dickson, emeritus professor of Dairy Science, coached the teams.

“Darci did an outstanding job having just a couple weeks of judging practice under her belt prior to the competition,” said Coach Ted Halbach. “She worked extremely hard and I”m really proud of how she approached the contest as an opportunity to grow outside of her comfort zone. It was awesome to have all her efforts rewarded with a 48 and a 46 (out of 50) on two reason sets.”

“We send our first-year team members to the Accelerated Contest and I was very proud of how they competed against mostly teams of upperclassmen from other universities,” stated Halbach. “The students really embraced preparing for the contest making their learning experience all the more beneficial. To see the learning and skill development grow from the first day of practice to contest day was simply amazing.”

UW-Madison Team White Placed:
Fourth Team Overall (1950 points)
Second in Guernseys
Third in Oral Reasons
Third in Brown Swiss

Individual Awards & Members:
Ben Sarbacker, Verona, Wis. Dairy Science, Sophomore
Fifth High Individual Overall (675 points)
First in Holsteins
Fifth in Oral Reasons
Brian Coyne, Spring Valley, Wis. Dairy Science, Sophomore
First in Milking Shorthorns
Chelsea Holschbach, Baraboo, Wis. Dairy Science, Sophomore
Fifth in Guernseys
Kristin Natzke, Fond du Lac, Wis. Dairy Science/Ag Journalism, Junior

UW-Madison Team Cardinal Placed:
Fifth Team Overall (1926 points)
Fifth in Holsteins

Individual Awards & Members:
Kelly Sime, Stoughton, Wis. Dairy Science, Sophomore
Seventh High Individual Overall (665 points)
Third in Jerseys
Dana Mohn, Lakeville, Min. Dairy Science/Ag Business, Sophomore
Jade Buchholz, Westfield, Wis. Dairy Science, Sophomore
Adam Geiger, Brillion, Wis. Dairy Science, Sophomore
Fifth in Brown Swiss

UW-Madison Team Black Placed:

Individual Awards & Members:
Darci O”Brien, Stueben, Wis. Dairy Science, Sophomore
Tenth in Oral Reasons

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Editor: Photos available for download

Names for photos:
UWAcceleratedWhite – left to right, Assistant Coach Linda Behling, Ben Sarbacker, Kristin Natzke, Brian Coyne, Chelsea Holschbach
https://webhosting.cals.wisc.edu/downloads/2008_oct_photo/UWAcceleratedWhite.JPG

UWAcceleratedCardinal – left to right, Assistant Coach Linda Behling, Kelly Sime, Darci O”Brien, Adam Geiger, Jade Buchholz, Dana Mohn
https://webhosting.cals.wisc.edu/downloads/2008_oct_photo/UWAcceleratedCardinal.JPG