By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
One of the highlights of the final night of the Adams County Fair for the past few years has been the Barnyard Olympics, a series of “farm” related competitions that involve students from the five county high schools. Using a point system, the series of competitions takes place in the center ring and allows each group of 10 athletes the opportunity to win cash prizes for their school’s athletic department.
For this year’s Olympics, the prizes were $1,000 for first place, $500 for second place, $400 for third place, $300 for fourth place and $200 for fifth place.
For 2026, the organizers of the Olympics came up with more unique challenges for the teams:
• “Feed the Herd”, where teams had 60 seconds to sort a mixture of various colored dried beans into a bowl, which was then weighed for the final results.
• “Hay Bale Huck”, where teams had three opportunities to toss a standard hay bale, with the longest toss taking the event
• “Mingling in the Meadow”, which was a scavenger hunt that sent nine team members dashing up into the grandstands to find designated items while the 10th team member ventured out onto the fairgrounds to retrieve a wheelbarrow
• “Fast Farmer”, where teams used the wheelbarrow from the preceding event to compete in a basic wheelbarrow relay , loaded with a bale of hay and the tough twist at the finish line was to find two beans hidden inside the hay bale
• “Food Sack Frenzy”, which was just an old-fashioned sack race relay
• “Half Gallon Hoedown”, where one member from each team volunteered to chug a half-gallon of milk, no easy task on a warm summer night
When all the dirt and mud had cleared, the final results went as follows:
– First Place- North Adams ($1,000)
– Second Place- West Union ($500)
• Third Place- Peebles ($400)
• Fourth Place- Manchester ($300)
• Fifth Place- Adams County Christian ($200)
The team members for North Adams included: Miley Hesler, Lilly Parker, Jacee Davis. Marnie Tolle, Addison Ormes, Maddox Martin, Thaddeus Moore, Jayden Reckers, Brevon Shengshang, Jace Michael
Team members for West Union were: Jocelyn Hall, Gavin Rowe, Keith Sowards, Violet Randolph, Harlee Hayslip, Annabelle McIntosh, Maddie Stout, Ty Pennington, Maddie White, Miguel Alvarez
The roster for Peebles included: Jericho Howard, Chase Shoemaker, Conner Gross, Katie Myers, Chloe Myers, Reese Davis, Izzy Hawkins, Slade Abbott, Bryce Hawkins, Calen Vogler
The team members for Manchester included: Carson Inman, Brayden Palmer, Colton McChesney, James Hackathorn, Remington Hayslip, Maddie Easter, Marji Insko, Peyton Hayslip, Jadelynn Conley, Maddie Calvert
Team members for Adams County Christian were: J.R. Liston, Johnny Gehring, Rylan Souder, ZDJ Coffman, Mason Baldwin, Josie Walters, Joselin Walters, Carley Powers, Shyanne Powers, Alisha Hargett