Photos by Scott Halasz | Greene County News
Sydnee Hawkins (center) won the showman of showmen competition Thursday at the Greene County Fair. Gracie Barron (left) was second followed by Landen Terrill.
Sydnee Hawkins was all smiles after the horse portion of the showman of showmen competition. Despite not showing horses, she was first.
Landen Terrill drives his hog around the ring. He finished second in that part of the showman of showmen contest.
Gracie Barron brings her goat into the ring, making sure to keep an eye on the judge. She finished third in that part of the competition and second overall.
XENIA — A veteran of the Greene County Fair, it’s no secret that Sydnee Hawkins is among the best at showing cattle, hogs, and goats.
Turns out, the Greeneview High School student can show just about anything.
In a small, but talent-laden showman of showmen contest Thursday at the Greene County Fair, Hawkins won five of the six species — including sheep and horse, which she doesn’t normally show — to record a near-perfect score of seven and claim the unofficial title of best showman in the county.
To be eligible, a participant must have won a senior showmanship on one of the six species.
In the contest, finishing first is worth one point, second is worth two points, and third is worth three points, etc. Low score wins.
Gracie Barron was second with 13 points and Landen Terrill was third with 16 points. There were no other entrants but it likely would not have mattered. Hawkins was solid all-around and even managed to catch a runaway sheep while hanging on to hers as well.
But she still wasn’t sure.
“I was pretty surprised,” Hawkins admitted after receiving her clock trophy and cash prize. “I was worried.”
She had a reason to be concerned. Barron and Terrill have won their share of shows and showmanship contests.
“I thought I was going to have a hard time, especially in their areas of expertise. Gracie is an amazing cattle showman,” Hawkins said. “She’s been doing good this past year so I thought that was going to be a struggle. Landen is an amazing hog showman. I knew I was going to have to get around them in that to do good.”
She did and she did.
After finishing second last year Hawkins did some work with sheep to prepare but she went into the horse portion with no experience other than the last two showman of showman.
“Went out there and kind of (winged) it,” Hawkins said.
And up until the very end she had her doubts.
“It was almost like a feeling of relief,” she said after they announced Barron as the runner-up. “It was just nerves running through me.”
Hawkins is eligible one more year but she is unsure if she will participate again. For now, she said she will enjoy her win and use a little of the cash prize to munch on some fair food and maybe buy a new competition shirt or two.
Reach Scott Halasz at 937-502-4507.
