3rdOverall Heifer McKlay Gensini
4thOverall Heifer Tyler Miller
5thOverall Heifer Rhett Lowderman
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My name is Emma Eathington and I am currently a sophomore at the University of Illinois majoring in Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications with a concentration in Organizational and Community Leadership, and a minor in Animal Sciences. I grew up in a family of six, my parents are Kevin and Patricia Eathington, and I have three siblings, Katelyn, Kyle and Ella. When we attend a show you will also find our Grandma Cathy cheering us on and Katelyn’s fiance, Curits Harsh, helping out. Without these seven family members, I wouldn’t be successfully showing cattle. As a 3rd generation showman
and 9th generation farmer, I am very passionate about the agricultural industry. My grandpa and grandma started the family tradition of showing livestock way back in the day by exhibiting market steers at the same small town festival that I started showing at. My dad was then encouraged by his older brothers to show cattle, so he exhibited at the county and state level. Shortly after my grandpa passed away, my family attended our first National Junior Angus Show (NJAS) in Indianapolis. After that week we were hooked! My siblings and I haven’t missed a National Junior Angus Show since
2014, and we don’t plan to in the future. Throughout the years, we slowly made our travels to exhibit at larger shows like the National Western Stock Show, NAILE, and regional angus shows. While my family grew in intensity for the sport, our bond grew stronger. It didn’t matter which sibling was in the ring, we all stopped what we were doing and supported each other. We might not have started off being successful but the value of success meant much more to us as we had to work to get there. I remember showing at small jackpot shows in our county and not even winning my class. We didn’t mind though because we
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