They came home with a national championship; the first in the history of Oakdale High School.

Members of the Oakdale High School FFA Livestock Judging team competed at the national livestock evaluation contest in Indianapolis, Indiana on Oct. 27 during the 94th annual National FFA Convention. After being in Illinois and Indiana for a little over a week before the contest to practice at various colleges and ranches in the area, the students participated in the national competitions live portion of the contest.

“Approximately two weeks before the live event, the students completed the online portion of the contest which consisted of a teamwork activity on livestock marketing and genetics, and a test on general livestock knowledge,” explained OHS Ag teacher and FFA Advisor Isaac Robles. “After a very challenging contest, on the evening of October 28 during a session of the national convention with over 50,000 FFA members in attendance, the Livestock Judging team was announced as the national champions for the year 2021.”

It was a moment they will never forget, said the advisor.

“This is the first time that an Oakdale FFA judging team has ever won a national championship,” Robles enthused.

The team members are Devon Pastor-Guzman, who is a senior at Oakdale High School, as well as fellow senior Nicole Carter, OHS Class of 2021 graduates Morgan Gravatt, who is a freshman at Modesto Junior College; Jaiden Grivette, a freshman at Chico State University; and Dominic Robles, who was the team alternate and is also a freshman at Modesto Junior College.

“Livestock Judging is arguably the most difficult, and certainly the oldest and most traditional contest in the FFA,” added Robles. “Oakdale High School FFA has had a couple teams in the past few years compete at the national contest after winning the state finals; this is the first one to break through with a national championship.”