By Mark Carpenter-
As it has always been in recent years, two big events closed out the Adams County Fair on its final night. One was the wildly popular Demolition Derby and the other was the equally popular Barnyard Olympics. for those not familiar with the “Olympics”, groups of 10 athletes from all four county schools compete against each other in a variety of events, all of them somehow evolving around a barnyard theme. The reward for their efforts are cash prizes which go the each school’s Athletic Department. West Union was the defending champion, but they didn’t retain the crown as this year’s $1,000 prize for first place went to North Adams.
The first event of the evening was dubbed “Hillbilly Golf” with competitors using a tobacco stick and a corn husk and after some serious tape measuring conducted by official Phil Rhonemus and Bruce Watson, Peebles High School was declared the winner with Manchester second, West Union third, and North Adams fourth.
The next event , titled “Milk Exchange” involved all 10 team members lining up and passing a bucket of milk back over their heads in a relay race. Taking first place was North Adams, second Manchester, third West Union, and fourth Peebles.
Next up was the Hay Bale Toss, this year done a bit differently, with competitions for both tossing distance and tossing height, and different categories for boys and girls.
The boys hay bale height toss was kind of a “no contest” as North Adams’ Austin McCormick just did what he has done all his life and tossed the bale over the bar with ease. On the girls side, it wasn’t quite as easy as the bar had to be lowered after four consecutive misses, but eventually West Union’s Kendra Grooms took first place for the Dragons.
In the hay bale toss for distance, it was a clean sweep for North Adams as the Green Devils captured both the boys and girls first place finishes.
Next came an event which involved audience participation, a scavenger hunt which began with teams digging through corn for 10 envelopes, then racing up into the grandstand to find audience members who could provide the items listed in each envelope. In the end of a somewhat complicated process, Peebles was the winner with North Adams second, Manchester third, and West Union fourth.
As darkness settled in over the fairgrounds, the final event in the twilight was called the “Barnyard Relay.” Alumni of each school who had participated in the scavenger hunt were brought back for this event and kicked it off, before the high school kids took over, with the race won by Peebles, followed in order by North Adams, West Union, and Manchester.
When all of the final scores were tallied, North Adams was declared champions of the 2019 Barnyard Olympics, with Peebles placing second, Manchester third, and West Union fourth.
The team members and coaches from each school were as follows:
North Adams- Austin McCormick, Jayden Hesler, Lizzie Gill, Karissa Buttelwerth, Braylie Jones, Cortney Brown, Seth Vogel, Colton Hesler, Andrew Brand, Anthony Wylie, and Coach Katie Ragan.
Peebles- Alex Camp, Gage Crothers, Madison Beekman, Weston Browning, Kyle Lightner, Harlee Wilkinson, Kierra Stone, Olivia Parrett, Carlie Cluxton, Hope Brown, and Coaches Jessica Kremin and David Parrett.
Manchester- Yasmin Lucas, Kylie Abbott, Melanie Thatcher, Mackenzie Leadingham, Taylor Morrison, Madison Jones, Kris Walters, Declan Huron, Daryan Rigsby, Trey Spears, and Coach Troy Thatcher.
West Union- Zane Kingsolver, Brycen Staten, Dakota Jarvis. Clayton Jones, Cameron Campbell, Alexa Rowe, Madison Taylor, Kaitlyn Davis, Christian Shivener, Kendra Grooms, and Coaches Austin Kingsolver and J.R. Kirker.
