CANYON, Texas — West Texas A&M University’s horse judging teams successfully closed out
its season with high rankings at national and world championships this month.
One WT team was named champion at the National Reining Championship on Nov. 1 in
Oklahoma City, outranking teams from Texas A&M University, Oklahoma State and the
University of Arkansas. WT’s second team ranked sixth.
At the American Quarter Horse Association World Championship on Nov. 7, WT’s teams
ranked third and sixth overall, topping teams from Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Colorado State
and elsewhere.
“This completes a pretty spectacular year for our horse judging teams,” said Dr. John Pipkin,
Regents professor of agriculture and director of WT’s Equine Industry Program. “They showed
remarkable growth over the season, and this positions our teams as competitors to be reckoned
with in years to come.”
At the world championship, Makenzie Knipe, junior agriculture education major from New
Braunfels, ranked No. 1 in overall and performance and third in reasons. Hannah McLochlin,
senior agriculture major from Plymouth, Ind., ranked second in reasons. Calli Montague, senior
agribusiness/equine major from Mason, ranked first in reasons and second in performance. Sydni
Nilles, junior agribusiness/equine major from Fox Lake, Ill., ranked first in halter and eighth
overall. Sierra Stammen, junior agribusiness/equine major from Allen, ranked fifth in halter and
sixth in reasons. Grant “Sal” Washington, junior agribusiness/equine major from Levelland,
ranked 10th in halter.
At the national reining championship, Stammen ranked first; Grace Wolfington, junior animal
science major from Sheboygan, Wisc., ranked fourth; Quinn Dunham, junior agriculture
communications major from Greensboro, N.C., ranked fifth; and McLochlin ranked sixth.