KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A livestock judging team from Caney Valley High School claimed fourth place in the nation at the American Royal 4-H and FFA Livestock Judging Contest held on Nov. 1, in Kemper Arena.

Team members Quint Lockwood, Kurt Lockwood, Lyndsay Roper and Casey Burris represented Kansas at the national competition and had the fourth-top score out of nine state FFA teams. Caney Valley amassed 2,126 team points, trailing the champion, Oklahoma, with 2,266 points; Indiana, with 2,249 points; and Illinois with 2,129 team points.

Individually, each of the Caney Valley team members finished among the top 20 at the national contest with Quint Lockwood posting the best score: a ninth-place overall finish. Kurt Lockwood finished in 15th place, Lyndsay Roper claimed 18th place, and Casey Burris won 20th place.

“To finish among the top four in the nation and to have all team members place among the top 20 individually are tremendous accomplishments,” said Dwayne Messner, Caney Valley FFA Advisor.

Quint Lockwood posted a third-place tie overall win in the sheep judging competition, giving him the distinction of having the highest individual score in the four areas of the competition (sheep, swine, beef, reasons). The Caney Valley team claimed fourth place in sheep judging, third place in swine judging and fourth place in reasons.

The fourth-place team honor comes on the heels of another national honor won by the Caney Valley team. In September, the Caney Valley foursome won third place at the National Barrow Show in Austin, Minn.

Messner said prior to this school year, Caney Valley had not competed at the national level in almost 40 years.

“To go to two national competitions in the same year, that’s a very big deal,” said Messner.