ROME TOWNSHIP — Never mind the rain that battered the area off and on Thursday, the Lawrence County Junior Fair continued at full steam with a slate of competitions and entertainment activities.

Activities ranged from cattle judging, the pedal pull show and mud bogging at the grandstand. In the latter case, the heavy rains throughout the day whetted, rather than wetted the activities.

Several young people took home awards Thursday night in cattle judging at the Lawrence County Junior Fair.

In the feeder steers judging, Cody Myers earned the top spot honor while Evan Herrell and Nathan Colegrove finished second and third places respectively.

Judge Jeff Fisher praised Myers calf as: “the most complete calf. It’s fairly sturdy, correct in its top.”

He also praised Herrell’s calf.

“It may not have quite as much muscle but it’s still a quality made calf,” Fisher said.

In the feeder heifers category, Dustin Wilson took the top honor while Justin Payne garnered the second place award and Daniel Johnson finished third.

In the junior heifer judging, Garrett Crawford finished first while his sister, Cheryl Ann Crawford came in second. The tables were turned for the Crawford children in the holstein junior heifer calves competition.

In that event Cheryl Ann bested her brother, finishing first to his second. She also finished first to his second in the junior dairy showmanship competiton, while Trent Dickess finished first in senior dairy showmanship.

Judge David Mills complimented Cheryl Ann on her ability in the ring.

“The young lady, she just got out there and got things done,” he said. “They all did a good job. I would let any of these kids take one of my animals to the state fair and show it,” he said.

Cheryl Ann took the top spot in the junior dairy skillathon while her brother placed second.

In the senior heifer calf show, Andrew Owens took home the top spot and in the junior yearling heifer judging, Kyle Evans finished first while Garrett Crawford came in second.

In the jersey junior heifer calf judging, Trent Dickess took home the top honor. In the overall junior heifer calf judging, Dickess took second place, sandwiched by the Crawford brother/sister team with Cheryl Ann in first place and Garrett in third. Dickess also picked up the top honor for senior dairy skillathon.

In the junior beef showmanship competition, the top three scorers in the 16-18-year-olds class were Kyle Taylor, Kyle Evans and Nathan Colegrove, respectively.

In the showmanship 14 and 15-year-olds division, the top three scorers were Justin Payne, Dustin Wilson, and J.J. Huff, respectively. In the 11 and 12-year-old showmanship judging, Cody Myers took home the first place award while Evan Herrell came in second and Russell Jenkins finished third.

Austin Harper took home the first place award in the showmanship judging for 10-year-olds. He was followed by Nate Jones in second place and Alec Herrell in third.

Brenna Morris was the champion in the nine-year-old’s showmanhip judging. Andrew Owens finished second and Cheryl Ann Crawford finished third.

By the end of the evening more than a half a dozen cattle entrants had collected prize checks in the beef sweepstakes.

“We combine their skillathon placing, their showmanship placing and their scores in the regular classes and selected the top three scores,” Lawrence County 4-H Extension Agenct Laura Jane Murphy explained.

Cody Meyers took home the first place award of

$250, the second place cash prize of $225 went to Nathan Colegrove and the third place $200 award went to Kyle Taylor. The total cash prized handed out amounted to $1,628, all donated from local businesses and individuals.