By Angela Twining
The BYU Animal Science Department has discovered the best way to give its school a good name: place third in a national competition.
Last weekend, four BYU animal science students traveled to San Antonio, Texas, to compete in an Academic Quadrathalon against students from schools with animal science programs five times the size of BYU''s.
'It was an honor, and also kind of nerve-wracking, but it wasn''t intimidating,' said Daniel Dugger, 25, a senior from Bloomfield, New Mexico.
Dugger, along with his three teammates, won the local and regional levels to get the chance to compete nationally.
The competition for BYU''s foursome started last year in Logan against Utah State. BYU will host this year''s local competition this weekend.
Dr. Richard Kellems, a professor in the animal science department, served as the team advisor.
'Our students are well-trained and we''re gaining respect here because of our program,' he said.
Kellems said BYU''s program consists of about 200 students, while Texas A&M, a national competitor, has over 1,000.
BYU placed higher than Texas A&M in the national competition, which is held in conjunction with the National Cattlemen''s Beef Association Annual Meeting.
This is the third year BYU has qualified for nationals.
He said the students who went to San Antonio attended educational seminars, listened to experts speak and visited the nation''s largest beef operation, King Ranch, which is managed by a BYU graduate.
Lynnie Donovan, 20, a junior from Dumfries, Virginia, estimated 2,000 of the top people in the industry got together. She said she was glad to be there.
'We learned so much without knowing it. We got a lot of hands-on experience and got to meet so many people,' she said.
Her hands were filled with business cards by the end of the five-day stay.
'So many people were interested in talking to us because we were up and coming in the industry,' Donovan said.
The other two teammates were Corey Cole, 23, a senior from Alisa Viejo, California, and Chad Bateman, 24, a senior from Cody, Wyoming.
The Academic Quadrathalon Contest included a written exam on topics like biotechnology and animal types. Next, the competitors had to demonstrate skills such as identifying species or performing procedures in the field.
The third event was the presentation of a discussion on a given topic, such as NAFTA''s effect on the beef industry. The final event was a quiz bowl.
Several teams per school compete locally, and one from each school goes to the regional competition. BYU competes in the western region, one of four regions in the country. One team goes on to compete nationally from each region.
The local and regional contests are held annually during February and March, and the national competition is held the following February.