MHS Citrus Judging Team shines at state finals

The Monache FFA Citrus Judging Team has returned from the 2013 FFA Mid-Winter State Finals Judging and Field Day with a record number of awards.

Hosted by Fresno State University on Feb. 2, the event attracted more than 10 schools from the valley.

Monache’s FFA trained citrus evaluator team included junior Valerya Baca, sophomore Marinez Ruiz and freshmen Justin Tucker and Denis Raya — all members of the school’s agriculture and FFA program.

The first-time citrus-judging team invested more than two months, learning how to evaluate the overall quality of various types of citrus fruits including oranges, lemons, grapefruit, Mandarins, and nursery trees.

“They are required to know how to identify over 50 citrus damages and diseases as a part of their competition,” said Jason Ferreira, agriculture instructor at Monache. “These students are to be commended for taking home the second ‘High Team Overall’ in the Citrus B Judging Contest.”

In addition, Monache walked away with more High Awards than any other competing team.

In addition, Baca also took home the 2nd High Individual Overall Award, and Ruiz the fourth High Individual Overall Award.

“The team members’ overall excitement was evident by their comments such as, ‘We did it,’ and ‘Next year we will take home first,’” Ferreira said. “These students will be back in action next year as they prepare to dominate the competition and take home the first prize award in 2014. Monache FFA is extremely proud of their accomplishments and is looking forward to further success from these individuals as well as those students who are training to pursue excellence in other FFA endeavors.”