Four Top 12 Finishes by Crop Soil Students Lead U of A Soil Judging Team to Region IV Title

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Katie Jansson, Jonathan Brye, Sophie Sward and Claire Meara were among the top 12 individual finishers, leading U of A's soil judging team to a second straight Region IV championship.

Led by four of the top 12 individual finishers, the U of A soil judging team captured the Region IV championship in October in competition hosted by Texas Tech University at Lubbock, Texas.

The team, all students in the Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences and coached by Kris Brye, University Professor of applied soil physics and pedology, won the overall title as well as the team-judged pit portion of the competition.

U of A's squad includes Jonathan Brye, Katie Jansson, Claire Meara, Colten Nichols, Noah Solomon, Keara Taul and Sophie Sward. Jansson won the overall individual championship, finishing first among 31 competitors. Brye was second overall, Sward ninth and Meara 12th.  

"We were way out of our comfort zone for this contest," said Brye, also a researcher and scientist with the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the research arm of the UA System Division of Agriculture. "Practicing was challenging and the contest pits were challenging, too. However, I'm so proud of my group for demonstrating their knowledge and skills as they did so well individually and as a group."

Arkansas also won the Region IV title last year, including the team-judged pit portion and with Jansson placing first individually.

For the 12th time in 14 years, U of A has earned a spot in the national competition to be held during the spring semester. Arkansas finished sixth in the nation in 2023 and was 16th in 2022.  

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture. For more information about Bumpers College, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter at @BumpersCollege and Instagram at BumpersCollege.

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $2.2 billion to Arkansas' economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the few U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research and Economic Development News.