
(Deming) – Luna County 4-H members had a strong showing at this year’s district contests held in Las Cruces last week.
Luna County won the Junior Insect Identification contest, with Reid Swinney as the high-point individual, and teammates Kylan Swinney placing 4th and David Velez placing 5th individually.
Luna County also won the Junior Crops contest, with Kylan Swinney winning the high-point individual honors, and teammates Keri Dominguez placing 2nd, Reid Swinney placing 3rd and Dylan Smyer placing 5th.
Calleigh Sweetser was the high-point individual in the Novice Sewing I tote bag competition.
Spencer McFaul was the high-point individual in Junior Wildlife, and Truett Shafer placed 3rd in the competition. Those two, with teammates Jaden Ruttle and Kylan Swinney, placed 2nd in the team competition.
The Junior Archery Team of Justin Maes, Spencer McFaul, Megan Phillips and Jaden Ruttle placed 2nd in the Open Free-Style Unlimited competition.
And the Junior Archery Team of Juan Nevarez, Dylan Smyer, Elaine Williams and J.J. Willis placed 3rd in Open Free-Style.
Luna County’s Novice Insect Identification team placed 3rd, with Poppy Shultz placing 2nd and Truett Shafer placing 3rd individually. Zane Stockton also was on the team.
Truett Shafer was the 2nd-high individual in the Novice Rifle competition, while David Velez was the 2nd-high individual in the Junior Rifle contest, with Spencer McFaul placing 5th in Junior Rifle. The Junior Rifle team of Velez, McFaul, Kylan Swinney and Reid Swinney placed 3rd, and the Junior Rifle team of Darby Harrington, Jaden Ruttle, Tristan Nunn, and Megan Phillips placed 5th.
And Kenzie McWright placed 2nd in Novice Horse Judging, while Keri Dominguez placed 4th in Novice Livestock Judging.
4-H is a youth organization open to participants from ages 5-19. Novice competitors are 9-11, while junior competitors are 12-13.
District contests include 4-H members from seven counties: Luna as well as Catron, Dona Ana, Grant, Hidalgo, Sierra and Socorro.