Smooth victory

Calm.

Consistent.

Confident.

No matter the species, no matter the animal’s temperament, Maria Hemmelgarn kept those qualities in mind.

They were key to winning her the trophy.

Hemmelgarn, a nine-year 4-H member, captured the Jay County 4-H large animal supreme showmanship trophy during Wednesday’s competition at the Jay County Fair.

Her jaw dropped after her name was called.

“I’ve always wanted to be in this competition just because my sisters have been in it,” Hemmelgarn said. “They’ve never won though, so I was like, ‘I need to win this. I need to do the best I can.’

“So just hearing my name called was just that overwhelming feeling of, ‘I did it.’”

Hemmelgarn, who represented dairy beef, earned the trophy on her first try.

The supreme showmanship competition pits the advanced showmanship winners from each species against each other. They must show each of the species except the one from which they advanced. The animals to be shown are distributed via a blind draw.

Often, that leads to challenges. 

Competitors will run into a rambunctious animal.

Or they’ll struggle with a species with which they are unfamiliar.

That simply wasn’t the case for Hemmelgarn on Wednesday. She was smooth throughout the competition, calmly leading her animals through their paces.

At one point — after the judge had completed evaluation — she was gently stroking the underside of a cow’s neck, the animal leaning into her like a puppy.

Hemmelgarn said she felt comfortable all the way.

“I was waiting for that moment where I’m like, ‘Man, I know I did not do good there,’” she said. “But I had practiced so much in advance and just tried to make sure I could do everything to the best of my ability, to where once I went through it I thought I did it to the best of my ability.”

    Maria Hemmelgarn shows during the Jay County 4-H large animal supreme showmanship competition on Wednesday. “I try to just stay as level-headed and just think through everything — try to prepare myself each time I went in,” she said. (The Commercial Review/Ray Cooney)

That comfort came from working with fellow 4-H members, including some of her competitors, through the course of the week. She mentioned Nick Laux (beef), Elizabeth Brunswick (swine), Kamzy Johnson (horse), Corey Emery (dairy) and Ella Stockton (meat goat), all of whom were also in the supreme showmanship competition. (Other competitors were Elizabeth Link representing sheep and Levi Willman representing dairy goat.)

Hemmelgarn also picked up some tips on sheep showing from Luke Fugiett.

“Luke was out here practicing in the show ring, so I just stole one of his sheep and said, ‘Luke, I’m practicing,’” she said. “So I just walked around the ring for him and he was giving me pointers.”

She snagged his sheep again Wednesday morning for more prep work.

The only species she did not get her hands on prior to the competition was dairy goats, but it didn’t seem to matter.

“I try to just stay as level-headed and just think through everything — try to prepare myself each time I went in,” Hemmelegarn said. “Because it’s a new animal, I need to go in and do the best I can with this one. The last one’s done.”

Hemmelgarn shows beef and dairy beef for her 4-H projects. During her first year, she also showed swine. 

Outside of 4-H, she is also involved in Jay County FFA and CYO at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. She plays volleyball and runs track for Jay County High School.