NDSU Horticulture and Forestry Club students attended the 2018 National Collegiate Landscape Competition sponsored by the National Association of Landscape Professionals March 14-17. The event was hosted by Alamance Community College in Graham, North Carolina.
The event is the largest national competition and career recruitment event for college students studying horticulture and landscaping, with more than 750 students from 62 universities and colleges competing in 30 events.
Students demonstrated their skills in such activities as tree climbing, patio building, identifying horticulture specimens, skid steer operation, sales presentation, exterior/interior landscape design, irrigation troubleshooting and wood construction. They also attended the largest green industry career fair and meet with approximately 100 top industry companies.
NDSU students who attended were horticulture majors Anne Gatzke, Connor Hagemeyer, Torie Jones, Sarah Kickert and Garrett Schumacher; landscape architecture majors Halley Bartlett, Kai Halverson, Matthew Keller, Tony Paul and Kaylee Pierce; business administration major Colin Schulte; and computer engineering major Kari Trembath. Faculty advisers Harlene Hatterman-Valenti and Todd West also attended.
The NDSU team ranked 13th nationally out of 62 competitive teams, the highest ranking NDSU has achieved in the annual event. Two NDSU students placed in individual contests. Bartlett, from Kenmare, North Dakota, took first place in interior landscape design and Gatzke, from Elk River, Minnesota, took second place in irrigation design.
More than 60 scholarships were distributed, totaling nearly $100,000. Five NDSU students received scholarships from the group’s foundation. Hagemeyer, from Clara City, Minnesota, received the Husqvarna Professional Products Scholarship. Kickert, from Shakopee, Minnesota, received the Moore Landscape Scholarship. Jones, from Fessenden, North Dakota, received the Akerman Family Scholarship. Pierce, from Scranton, North Dakota, received the Glowacki Family Scholarship. Trembath, from Andover, Minnesota, received the Hunter Water Conservation/Irrigation Efficiency Scholarship.
NDSU also received the Stihl Spirit Award, based on a combination of the team's social media presence, including a video created by Bartlett and Twitter posts by West, and the team's attitude at the competition. The award comes with a $1,000 prize, which will go toward expenses for the team to attend next year’s competition.
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