NGTC Horticulture Students Participate in National Competition
North Georgia Technical College’s horticulture students earned top rankings at the 41st Annual National Collegiate Landscape Competition held at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah in March. The NGTC horticulture team placed 21st nationally, maintaining the college’s Top 25 rank for five consecutive years. NGTC competed against 63 other schools from both two-year and four-year colleges and major universities across the nation.
Carter Lee of Cleveland and Christian Nelms of Toccoa both earned second place in Wood Construction while Mark Ware of White Plains placed fifth in Sales Presentation. Mackenzie Hill of Sautee Nacoochee placed sixth in Skid Steer Operation. Hill also placed in the top 25 overall with a ranking of 24th while Joel Pritchett of Cleveland ranked in the top 50 with a ranking of 34th out of 700 students competing. Nelms also received a national ranking in the top 100 overall students with a ranking of 54.
Other NGTC students who received a national ranking within the top 20 in individual events include Johnny Payne of Blairsville and Hill who together placed 14th in Landscape Maintenance Operation; Hill also placed 12th in Compact Excavator; and Matt Thomas of Lula placed 17th in Construction Cost Estimate.
Additional team members who traveled and competed representing NGTC were Seth Fowler of Lula, Amanda Burrell of Clayton, Johnathon Nix of Jefferson, Johnathan Peppers of Clermont, and Chance Young of Summerville.
Instructors Craig Thurmond and Lab Assistant John Mather were very proud of the students’ hard work.
“This year we had several students offered jobs with major industry players in Alabama, Illinois, Colorado and Washington, D.C.,” said Thurmond. “I believe some of our team will be traveling to these locations on their spring break for a company visit and final offer. I am so proud of these students’ preparation for an impromptu interview, dinner meetings and simply representing NGTC in such a competitive job market.”