WWU Horse Judging Team Member Sam Whiting Competes in Texas

FULTON, MO (05/03/2011)(readMedia)-- Sam Whiting of Glen Ellyn, Ill., a member of the William Woods University Intercollegiate Judging Team, recently competed at the American Paint Horse Association Spring Sweepstakes in Alvarado, Texas, with three other students. The students judged 11 classes and gave six sets of oral reasons.

The other students who competed were Liz Haben of West Chicago, Ill.; Christine Whittier of Elk River, Minn.; and Kristen Asher of Deckerville, Mich. Students had great scores earning many personal bests in their performance and reasons classes.

Haben ended up seventh out of 200 individuals in the performance division.

"This was a huge honor-as the top teams from all over the country attend this contest," said Jennie Petterson, assistant professor of equestrian science at WWU and the team's advisor.

"We are without a doubt one of the smallest four-year schools to compete at these contests, and we are always competitive and usually crack the top 10 with an individual or a team. It really demonstrates the commitment of the students and the strength of our program."

The participating colleges included Cal Poly State University, Clemson University, Colorado State University, Iowa State University, Kansas State University, Middle Tennessee State University, New Mexico State University, Oklahoma State University, Purdue University, Sam Houston State University, Texas A&M, Texas Tech University, University of Florida, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Wyoming, Virginia Tech University, West Texas A&M University and Virginia Tech.