The West Virginia University Soils Team recently placed second in the Southeast Regional Collegiate Soils Contest hosted by the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga.

Four students in the WVU Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design finished in the top 25 with two placing in the top 10: Sarah Taylor, an agronomy major from Petersburg, W.Va., placed fifth; T.J. Montgomery, an environmental protection major from Salem, W.Va., sixth; Katie Payne, a soil science major from Century, W.Va., 15th; and Laura Deehr, an agricultural and extension education major from Berlin Heights, Ohio, 22nd.

The seven-member team also includes Victoria Jonese, an agribusiness management and rural development major from Moorefield, W.Va., Emily Ott, and agronomy major from Lakewood, Ohio, and Samantha Spencer, an agroecology major from Sharpsburg, Md.

“As always, I’m extremely proud of the accomplishments of these students. They continue to build upon the past success of the Soils Team, and I believe it speaks to the quality of the training they receive as well as the overall strength of the college’s academic programs,” said Jim Thompson, associate professor of soils and land use in the Davis College.

Other schools that participated in the contest were Auburn University, Clemson University, the University of Kentucky, Murray State University, North Carolina State University, the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, the University of Tennessee-Martin, Tennessee Tech, Virginia Tech, and Western Kentucky University.

The team will now begin to prepare for the National Collegiate Soils Contest to be held in April 2011 in Bend, Ore.

-WVU-

la/11/4/10

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