Simon Claims "A Lot Of Pressure" For Purple Ribbons At County Fair

AUBURN – After a stellar basketball career and helping her school win three state volleyball championships, Johnson-Brock graduate Kaitlynn Simon said she was feeling the stress of competition at this year’s Nemaha County Fair.

She had won the top rabbit showmanship award in her age division at every fair for the past decade and offered her thoughts for the rabbit showmen of the future after keeping her streak unblemished.

Simon: “It was a lot of pressure, so I hope they can deal with it, but I’m excited.”

Simon is joining the Midland University volleyball team this fall. She can talk to teammates  about her 100 digs and 37 ace serves at Johnson-Brock and even about her junior buck broken blue.

Simon: “Junior means he is under six months, a buck is that he’s a boy and the broken blue, so he’s broken where others there could be a solid color and the blue is the color of this fur.”

Her brother learned the showmanship trade after getting his first rabbit from the local farm store.

Simon: “Then you start networking and finding people that have more rabbits. It’s like my family, we give a lot of the new show-ers our good rabbits, just to get them started with their own little bunny farm, I guess,  and then they start breeding themselves.”

She said success in showmanship is about working with a rabbit no matter what it’s pedigree is.

In other 4-H results:

In the 4-H dairy goat show, the junior showmanship champion was Hailee Johnson

She also showed the grand champion and reserve champion dairy goat. She had the fair’s best dressed goat, as well.

Colby Kent was the champion junior in the bucket calf show and Olivia Nichols was intermediate champion.

Trace Moody was the champion senior showman of the beef showmanship. Makenna Snodgrass was intermediate showmanship champion and Kensley Snodgrass was the junior champion.

Makenna Snodgrass showed the champion Simmental breeding heifer and Jacob Clarke showed the champion Angus breeding beef.

Connor Epler showed the champion commercial breeding beef and Aca Andrew was the reserve.

Makenna Snodgrass’s heifer was selected  the supreme champion breeding heifer.

In the market beef show, the champion steer was shown by Trace Moody and the reserve champion by Mattie Nichols.