News        from ABAC

Michael D. Chason Director of Public Relations ABAC 30 -- 2802 Moore Highway Tifton, GA 31793-2601 Phone 229-391-5055 Fax 229-391-5051 mchason@abac.edu

IMMEDIATE April 6, 2009

ABAC TEAM THIRD AT SOUTHEASTERN WILDLIFE CONCLAVE

TIFTON--Students from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College went toe to toe with 19 major colleges and universities to finish third in the recent Southeastern Wildlife Student Conclave in Little Rock, Ark.

ABAC finished second in the Quiz Bowl competition and third overall out of a powerful lineup of universities including Auburn University, University of Florida, Clemson University, North Carolina State University, Louisiana State University, Mississippi State University, and the University of Tennessee. The University of Georgia (UGA) won the competition, and Arkansas State University finished second.

“Given that this is only the third year we've competed, and given the fact that we have freshmen and sophomores competing against juniors, seniors, and graduate students, the students performed phenomenally,” said Dr. William Moore, Assistant Professor and one of the advisors, along with Dr. Doug Waid, to the Forestry-Wildlife Club members who competed. 

“We received high praise from many of the faculty at the other universities, including UGA,” Moore said.  “Most of the other schools were pulling for us in the Quiz Bowl finals, especially since our first match against them was the first time they'd lost a Quiz Bowl match in five years.”

Several team members placed high in individual events. Casey Arnett of Sylvania placed first in the Freeform Art category and Wild Turkey Calling competitions. David Freeman of Newnan finished third in Sporting Clays with Jason Davis of Hartsville, S.C., receiving fourth place in Archery. Brian Shockley of Suwannee finished in fifth place in Fly Casting, and Jenni Smith of Waresboro placed fifth in the Essay competition. This marks only the third year in which ABAC has participated in the event after forming a Wildlife Society Student Chapter in 2006.

“The students competed hard in all of the different events, which was also made tougher since our team was relatively small, requiring individuals to participate in more than one event,” said Moore.

The Wildlife Conclave is an annual competition in which colleges and universities from all over the Southeast face off in a variety of academic and skill competitions. Teams from most universities are primarily comprised of upperclassmen and graduate students. Historically, the Quiz Bowl and a Team Competition have always been the focal points of Conclave and count the most toward each team’s overall score. The Team Competition is a comprehensive test covering a variety of wildlife and forestry knowledge and abilities.

Other skill and individual competitions include Orienteering, Wildlife Telemetry, Dendrology, Canoeing, Archery, Obstacle Course, Sporting Clays, Fly Casting, Art, Photography, and Game Calling.

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