Contact: Bob Ratliff
A student horticulture judging team at Mississippi State is receiving top honors in national competition.
Members of the university's Horticulture Club captured the highest overall score in 1997-98 competition sponsored by the American Society for Horticultural Science. At the organization's recent national conference in Charlotte, N.C., Texas A&M and Oklahoma State universities took second and third places, respectively.
The competition involved identification of greenhouse and ornamental plants. Also included was the commodity quality judging of greenhouse crops, ornamentals, fruits, and vegetables.
The MSU team included Daniel A. Ashworth Jr. of Starkville, Karl Gercens III of Cruger; William R. Lowery of Gadsden, Ala., and James M. Rawson IV of Laurel. Tonya B. Kilgore of Holcomb represented MSU in individual competition.
All are horticulture majors but Ashworth, who is majoring in landscape architecture.
In individual awards, Gercens placed first in vegetable and nursery crops and was the highest scoring individual overall in the contest. Ashworth was the second highest scoring individual in nursery crops, while Lowery took third in greenhouse crops.
The MSU team has placed first in the national competition four out of the past five years, said club adviser Richard L. Harkess.
"Our teams finished first in 1994, 1995, 1997, and 1998," said the assistant horticulturist in the department of plant and soil sciences. "In 1996, the team placed third."
The American Society for Horticultural Science promotes and encourages scientific research and education in horticulture. Its 4,500 members include researchers, teachers and growers and handlers of horticultural products, as well as undergraduate students through its Association of Collegiate Branches.