Moapa Valley Progress
The Pirates of Moapa Valley High School are, once again, state champions. Members of the Moapa Valley FFA soils judging team traveled last week to Eureka, Nevada, where they competed against other FFA members from chapters throughout the state.
The teams competed in both the soils judging and the homesite judging competitions. The contest determined both state bragging rights and the eligibility for national competition.
The Moapa Valley team has had state superiority for the last five years in both soils and the more difficult homesite competitions. But this year they were only able to come away as state homesite champions, falling to first-time winners Virgin Valley in the soils competition. But the Moapa Valley team was still able to pull off a third place finish in soils, qualifying them for the nationals competition.
In the individual contests, Moapa Valley had a good showing. Team captain Ryan McMurray, sophomore, came away with a first place finish and an individual state championship in the homesite competition. Sophomore Hayley Hall had an individual third place finish in both the soils and the homesite competition.
Virgin Valley’s Jamie Bundy had an individual second place finish in soils, which helped to pull her team into the first place team position.
Soils judging is more than just judging dirt and has real-life applications. Competitors analyze different pits of soil. For the soils competition, they determine the capability of the land to grow crops or accommodate wildlife. In the homesite competition, the students analyze the same soil, examining its underlying factors in building a home on a particular piece of ground. In both contests, competitors must determine the slope of the land, the soil texture, the level of erosion, soil depth, how fast runoff would travel, and how quickly water permeates the soil.
Homesite has the additional factors of determining the degree of limitation to a sewage lagoon, foundations for buildings, lawns and landscaping, and septic systems. Homesite competitors must also determine the depth of the water table, the shrink/swell of the soil, and the frequency of flooding.
The Moapa Valley team was one of the youngest and least experienced at the contest, being comprised of four sophomores and only one senior. In addition, only two MVHS team members had prior soil judging experience. McMurray and senior Shane Pulsipher were both on last year’s championship teams. But the other members of last year’s team were all graduating seniors.
For this year’s competition, newcomers Hall, sophomore Blake Bush, and sophomore Mackenzi Kephart were recruited to the team. The team was under the direction of FFA adviser Denise O’Toole.
McMurray was excited about the team’s homesite win, although they were disappointed at losing the soils title. “Everyone worked really hard and we put in a lot of time preparing for this competition,” he said. “Our team was really green and it was only the first or second competition most of us had ever participated in. I think the fact that we won homesite and got 3rd in soils reflects the dedication of the team members.”
O’Toole agreed. “Our team is young and they worked really hard and represented our school well,” she said. “We were very excited about the homesite win, and pleased with the 3rd place overall in soils. The best thing is, with our young team we have several years left to build upon this year’s performance. I was really proud of them.”
