soils team
The 2019 Texas A&M Soil Judging Team includes from left to right: Cody Garcia, Ashtyn Stufflebeam, Marcus Rose, Nicole Shigley - coach, Nick Frisbee and Kade Flynn.

The Texas A&M University Soil Judging Team represented well at the Region IV Collegiate Soils Judging contest hosted by the University of Arkansas in October. The team placed third overall, and placed 2nd in the pit. They will now advance to the national contest at the Ohio State University in April, 2020.

The team consists of Kade Flynn, a junior Geology major; Nickolas Frisbee, a senior Plant and Environmental Soil Science (PSSC) major; Cody Garcia, a senior PSSC major; Marcus Rose, a senior Forestry major; Ashtyn Stufflebeam, a senior PSSC major. They are coached by Nicole Shigley, a Master of Science student in Soil Science under the supervision of Dr. Peyton Smith.

team in the field
The Aggie Soil Judging team members out in the field - Cody Garcia, Nick Frisbee, Ashtyn Stufflebeam, Kade Flynn, Coach Nicole Shigley, Marcus Rose.

Individually, the Aggies also represented well with Flynn claiming 4th place individual and Garcia placing 7th out of the 33 students in the contest.

“I am so proud of how these students did, and I cannot wait for the next round!” said Coach Shigley.

The top two teams in this contest were Oklahoma State University (1st) and Texas Tech University (2nd).

team in and around soil pit
The Aggie Soil Judging Team practices in the pit prior to the regional contest at the University of Arkansas.