The livestock judging program at Northern Oklahoma College is young, in comparison to historical teams. However, growth of the team and department has been unprecedented. Jennifer Bedwell took the position as livestock judging coach at NOC in March of 2020 and created a culture of success at NOC. With 30 students between the the freshmen and sophomore teams, Bedwell has brought kids from all over the country to judge livestock at NOC. “I knew when I started recruiting this group of sophomores in the fall of 2020 that they were destined for some great things,” said Bedwell. “They had an amazingly successful freshmen year, with some highs and lows as sophomores and I’m extremely proud of the day they had at Kansas City.” Hailing from Indiana, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma, the NOC Team of 15 is serving as a corner stone for a young program. It is evident that in 20 years, folks will look back and remember the talent of the team but more importantly, the integrity and success of the program. NOC has had three top five finishes at the American Royal since 2019 and plans to continue the trend of success. “My kids have worked harder than any team I’ve been fortunate enough to coach,” said Bedwell. “One of my students, Cooper Thompson, said it best when he explained That livestock judging is the most self humbling sport you can ever play because you learn not only to evaluate livestock but also to prepare yourselves to have moments in life when you’re wrong.” Judging for Dr. Blake Bloomberg, Bedwell competed on the 2017 National Champion Livestock judging team at Oklahoma State and served as the assistant livestock judging coach to Dr Bloomberg for the 2019 National Champion livestock Judging team. “The best advice Bloomberg ever gave me was explaining how easy it was to judge four animals,” said Bedwell. “This team has overcome obstacles far beyond measure. I will never be able to articulate how proud I am of their success. They are a walking testimony to the fact that life may get hard but God always stays good.” •
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