Press contact: Kyla Kruse

SPRINGFIELD — Lincoln Land Community College Agriculture Club members recently competed at the Illinois Professional Agriculture Student (PAS) fall conference held in Normal. Six members earned top rankings and will advance to the national competition, which will be held at LLCC in March 2024.

LLCC’s Equine Specialist Team won first place overall. The team includes Emma Grace Pezold of Ashland, Ruby Dove of Riverton and Kylie Periman of New Berlin, who also placed second, third and fifth individually. 

Five LLCC students competed in the Employment Interview event. Alex Sidener of Rochester placed first in Ag Equipment, and Braydon DeCounter of Springfield placed third in Livestock Sales. Also competing were Nora Patton of Ohlman in Ag Education, Logan Kearns of Springfield in Livestock Production and Malena Kirgan of New Holland in Landscape Management.

LLCC’s Ag Sales Team includes Carson Knittel of Springfield and Bryce Clayton of Winchester. Knittel placed second individually in the event. 

The Crop Specialist Team of Sidener, Patton, Knittel, Clay Aylesworth of Mt. Pulaski, Maggie White of Murrayville and Braylee Gilmore of Carlinville placed fifth.

PAS is a nationally recognized student organization that brings education and industry together in agriculture.