Gwendolyn draws on Expo experience in fleece judging win
Gwendolyn Van Zwol considers herself still a learner when judging Merino fleeces, but her experience at the SA Sheep Expo, and also attending a workshop last year at Jamestown, has paid off.
From a huge field of 159 entrants, the 18-year-old from Mount Pleasant was named the winner and will represent SA at the Ekka in Brisbane next year.
"It is terrifying but exciting - the last time I touched a fleece was in the Sheep Expo this year," she said.
Ms van Zwol, who is studying her first year of a Bachelor of Animal Science at the University of Adelaide, hopes to end up working in agronomy or animal nutrition.
She lives on a hobby farm of 36 acres and is running five sheep, but would love to grow her flock and even start a sheep stud.
"I have a soft spot for Border Leicesters, I love their cute faces but what I run it will depend on what is going to be best on the land," she said.
Ms van Zwol says it is valuable to have good industry knowledge, including how to judge fleeces.
Due to the large number of entries, the organisers awarded ribbons to seventh place. The runner-up was Ryan Philp with Jackson Kuchel from Waikerie High School in third, Nick Richardson from Nuriootpa High School in fourth, Bryce Woidt from Unity College, Murray Bridge, in fifth, Noah Kruse from Faith Lutheran School in sixth, and Lucy Crosby from Cleve Area School in seventh.
In the junior section, Lucy Lock from Naracoorte completed a trifecta of champion young judges ribbons, after already having wins in the poultry and meat sheep competitions.
Lucy, who is in Year 9 at Seymour College, says she is "over the moon" and attributes her success to the young judges competitions at Naracoorte Show, which have helped her develop her skills.
And when asked what her secret to success was, she said to have a good process for looking over each entry.
"If you have a process it is easier to compare between the four exhibits and you won't miss anything," she said.
"I was looking for nice, bright sound even wool and with a nice even crimp."
Second place in the junior section was Skye Wooding, Penola High School, and third was Zoe Neal, Faith Lutheran School,
Overjudge and Nutrien's Adrian Dewell said it was fantastic to see the enthusiasm of the entries and also their ability to handle the fleeces without pulling out the wool staples.
He encouraged them to keep it simple and learn the industry terminology to describe the differences between the fleeces.
"For example, if you are talking about fleeces that are sound (good tensile) we don't talk about them being strong and we like to use white and bright when it comes to visual appearance," Mr Dewell said.
The encouragement award was won by Emily Kroehn, Keith Area School.
