(September 4, 2025) Paragould, Arkansas - UARM Livestock Judging hit the road this week for their first contest of the season. The Bucks competed in the Top Notch Swine Contest on Thursday. The men and women began their trip at the Howard County Fair on Wednesday and worked out before heading to Paragould to judge 8 classes of swine and gave 4 sets of reasons. 

This season the Bucks only have one sophomore. Kyleigh Stephenson (Elida, NM). She finished 34th as an individual overall, finishing with a 354 in judging and 169 in reasons for a total score of 523 out of 600.

In the freshmen competition, the Bucks finished sixth overall out of 8 total Junior College teams. The men and women also finished sixth in Reasons.

Individually, Kaleb Self (Susan Moore, AL) led the way, placing 30th overall out of 82 total judgers, with a score of 548. The individual overall winner scored a 580 in the contest. He finished second on the team in Reasons with a 172 out of 200 points.

Ellie Johnson (Mountainburg, AR) finished 43rd overall. She led the Bucks in the Judging category with a 379 out of 400 possible points. Self was close behind with a 376. 

Jake Sawyer (Horatio, AR) led the way for the team on reasons with a 173. 

Complete results for the contest can be found at https://www.judgingcard.com/Results/Events.aspx?ID=26172. 

Coach Walker Anttila knows this contest is a good measuring stick for his young team. "This is a great warm-up, starting contest for the year to learn and grow. This was everybody but Kyleigh's first collegiate contest. We now know how we need to prepare and practice moving forward into the Prof Lidvall in a few weeks." 

The team would like to thank the Polk County Fair, Washington County Fair, & Howard County Fair for generously letting our team use their livestock to practice with. Your support is a huge part of our preparation and success. 

The men and women compete again in a few weeks at the Prof Lidvall Memorial Contest in Cookeville, TN. 

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