Falls Church, Va. — Students from Georgia, Utah and Virginia took first place in irrigation events during Planet Student Career Days competitions, known as the Olympics of the landscape contracting industry.
Adam Boyd of Virginia Tech won the irrigation design event, which was sponsored by L.R. Nelson. Jimmy Barnett and Keith Mercer of North Metro Technical College in Acworth, Ga., won the irrigation assembly contest, which was sponsored by Hunter Industries and the Irrigation Association Education Foundation. Victor Eggleton of Brigham Young University won irrigation troubleshooting, sponsored by Ewing Irrigation Products.
The IAEF awarded each irrigation event winner a trip to the 26th International Irrigation Show in Phoenix Nov. 6 through 8. First-place winners will get roundtrip airfare to Phoenix, three nights hotel accommodations, conference registration and the opportunity to take any IA class offered at the show. The winners also will attend special events during the conference and will be recognized at the IA Keynote Breakfast on Nov. 7.
The competitions, this year at the University of Maryland March 19 through 22, were part of the Professional Landscape Network Student Career Days. The main event was a series of competitions that highlight skills used in landscape careers. More than 850 students and 200 instructors attended.
In the irrigation events, students created a design for an irrigation system, teams of two assembled an irrigation system following a design plan, and individual competitors identified and fixed problems in an existing system.
The IAEF is a non-profit organization established by the IA to encourage young people to choose careers in irrigation and to promote advanced educational opportunities.