OUTSKIRTS — ECHO
WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2022
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A7
Echo FFA wins big at recent spring Career Development Event
By MCKENZIE ROSE
Special to the Hermiston Herald
A bus full of enthusias-
tic and studied-up Echo FFA
members in the early morn-
ing hours of May 1 began
their journey to Corvallis,
to compete with other FFA
chapters at the spring Career
Development Event.
And compete they did.
The Echo meats evalua-
tion team placed fi rst over-
all, beating the next team by
a margin of more than 200
points, and sealed a spot at
the national competition.
The CDE competitions
spanned three days, with
veterinary science on May 1,
meats evaluation (referred to
simply as “meats”) on May
2 and milk quality and live-
stock evaluation on May 3.
While the other three
Echo teams did not advance
onto nationals, participants
said they gained valuable
experiences they look for-
ward to applying next year
to enhance performances.
This meats competition
requires intense attention
to detail, immense knowl-
edge of meat cuts and char-
acteristics, refi ned observa-
tion skills and much more.
Participants must evaluate
and identify various aspects
of meat carcasses, identify
retail cuts, determine the
quality and yield grade of
diff erent portions, diff eren-
tiate between wholesale and
retail cuts’ quality and take a
test on other meat features.
Juniors Lillian Wallis,
Kyndra Zumwalt and Mason
Murdock;
sophomores
Creed Russell and Taylor-Jo
Hoff man; and freshman Col-
ter Meads made up the 2022
Echo meats team.
Their coach is Raymond
Smith, Echo School District
superintendent. Smith has
coached FFA meats teams
for 21 years, 10 being with
Echo.
Some members of the
team competed in addi-
tional events. Meads was
on both the veterinary sci-
ence and livestock evalu-
Shandie Britt/Contributed Photo
The Echo FFA meats evaluation team displays its fi rst-place banner won at the state Career Development Event in early May 2022
in Corvallis. From left, Kyndra Zumwalt, Colter Meads, Creed Russell, Oregon FFA Reporter Jessie Samarin, Mason Murdock,
Taylor-Jo Hoff man and Lilian Wallis stand together.
Lindsay Murdock/Contributed Photo
The Echo FFA meats evaluation team is all smiles after performing well in its competition in
early May 2022 in Corvallis. From left, Echo High District Superintendent and meats evaluation
coach Raymond Smith stands with team members Taylor-Jo Hoff man, Lilian Wallis, Kyndra
Zumwalt, Creed Russell, Colter Meads and Mason Murdock.
ation teams, Hoff man was
a veterinary science mem-
ber and Lilian Wallis also
was a livestock evaluator.
Hoff man explained why she
was willing to participate in
such a diffi cult and complex
competition.
“Considering that I eat
some sort of meat every
day, I thought that it would
be very benefi cial for me to
learn about meat and where
it comes from,” she said.
“Being told by my coach
that I would thrive in this
CDE, I decided to try it out,
and I am so glad that I did.”
By placing top in the
state, the team can attend
the national competition
in the fall in Indianapolis.
Not only did Echo take top
honors among the 29 teams
present, but in individual
performance as well. Zum-
walt was the fi rst-place indi-
vidual, Russell was only one
point behind her in second,
Wallis achieved third, Mur-
dock was fi fth and Hoff man
was ninth.
The whole Echo meats
team placed in the top 10 out
of 110 total competitors.
“This team pulled it all
together and performed very
well,” Smith said. “They
had a goal in mind to win the
state contest and were will-
ing to put the time and eff ort
into it.”
The participants said
when they obtained their
results, they were fi nally
able to relax.
“It felt like all of that
stress and worry that we had
all been feeling had been
lifted off of our shoulders
because all of our hard work
had paid off ,” Hoff man said.
“It was impossible to wipe
the smiles off of all of our
faces for the next hour.”
“I had full faith in the
abilities of my teammates,”
Wallis added, “but I was
very surprised to hear that
we all placed in the top 10.”
This isn’t the fi rst time
an Echo meats team has
advanced to nationals. The
recent triumph marked
Echo’s sixth meats state title
in the last 11 years. Smith
attributed the team’s success
to the former students, who
“set a tone and example that
if you work hard, follow the
plan and put in the time you
will fi nd success.”
And each team, he said,
“has a common thread of
unity and support for each
other.”
Wallis elaborated on that
point.
“All my teammates
worked really hard to pre-
pare for this competition and
we all had strengths in dif-
ferent sections of the con-
test,” she said. “Zumwalt
was well versed in meats
as she worked for Mike’s
Mobile Slaughter and has
been doing really well in the
ID portion of the contest.”
Teammates
credited
Smiths’ coaching for playing
a large role in the success.
“Knowing that we have
Mr. Smith as our coach
makes me confi dent that we
will be high competitors at
the national level,” Hoff man
said. “Mr. Smith has proved
to me that he is one of the
best coaches in the country,
and I am certain that he will
make it his top priority for
us to be more than ready by
October.”
These meat experts
expressed excitement for the
opportunity to travel and put
their skills to the test in Indi-
anapolis in a few months.
“Our team will have to
put in countless hours of
practice between now and
then to achieve the goals
of national top ten,” Smith
said, “but they’re up to the
challenge.”
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