10 Jul UQ takes home individual overall meat judging champion
The 2022 ICMJ National Competition has wrapped up in Wagga Wagga with Katja Zapf from the University of Queensland taking out overall individual meat judging champion.
Katja finished five points ahead of Cole Petit from West Texas A&M University, with a total score of 1087 out of 1247.
Overall Team Champion was awarded to West Texas A&M University with University of Queensland coming in just 49 points behind to secure the Runner Up spot.
ICMJ President Dr Peter McGilchrist said this year’s competition was fierce, despite a two-year gap since the last event.
“The attention to detail of the students was very impressive.
“They were totally focused on determining the value of the carcasses and primals by weighing up yield and quality attributes,” he said.
“Talent and enthusiasm of the students for the red meat industry was spread right across all the universities which is reflected in the spread of competition results.”
Dr McGilchrist said it was also encouraging to see the collegiality between teams and competitors throughout the week.
The top 17 placegetters at the Wagga Wagga competition were whittled down to a top ten after a round of interviews.
“There has never been a more impressive group of students coming through,” Dr McGilchrist said.
Those 10 students, along with nine others selected for the Coaches XI, will attend the ICMJ Industry and Development Week later this year.
The coaches XI are selected for their leadership skills and dedication and their potential to have a positive impact on the red meat industry.
From there, a team of five will be selected to represent Australia in an international meat judging competition in the US in January.
The ICMJ National Conference is an annual event for university students and recent graduates from around the world.
The program includes seminars, Q&A panels, interactive workshops, a careers expo, social events and the 2022 National Meat Judging Contest held at Teys Australia.
ICMJ activities are supported by foundation partners Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) and the Australian Meat Processor Corporation (AMPC).
It is also supported by conference partners including Teys Australia, Coles, Australian Pork Limited, NH Foods, Kilcoy Global Foods, AACo, Fletcher, Grad Link, JBS, Herefords Australia, Fulton Market Group, AMIST Super, Angus Australia and Allflex.
ICMJ 2022 National Competition results
Overall Championship – Individual
John Carter Founders Buckle
Sponsored by AMPC Australia and presented by ICMJ Australia founder, John Carter.
Individual Overall Runner Up: Cole Petit, West Texas
Individual Overall Champion: Katja Zapf, University of Queensland
Overall Championship – Team
Roy McDonald Shield
Sponsored by Meat & Livestock Australia and presented by MLA’s Mel Smith.
Overall Team Runner Up: University of Queensland – Lawton Elliot, Nick Loughan, Samuel Turner, Katja Zapf
Overall Team Champion: West Texas A&M – Caleb Baker, Jacob McMillan, Carter Mortensen, Cole Petit. (Coached by Loni Lucherk)
Tom Carr Award for Coaching Excellence – Will Sylvester, Marcus Oldham College.
Presented by Demi Lollback from ICMJ.
Finalists Selected for Industry Development Week:
Lawton Elliott, UQ
Rachel Franklin, USYD
Jack Jansen, UNE
Anna Johnston, UNE
Callum Melton, UNE
Austin Smith, Murdoch
Harriet Taylor, Marcus
Samuel Turner UQ
Jasmine Wholton, CSU
Katja Zapf, UQ
Coaches XI selected for Industry Development Week:
Li Li Diu, Uni Adelaide
Meg Kennett, Marcus Oldham
Jillian Burgess, USYD
Lachlan Young, UQ
Kaitlyn Adesson, Murdoch
Chloe Sansom, UMEL
Jasmin Campbell Brown, CSU
James Palmer, LaTrobe
Connie Blake, UNE
Pork Judging
Sponsored by Australian Pork Limited and presented by Rachel Bryant.
Carcases for the competition were sponsored by Rivalea Australia
]Individual Runner Up: Maddie Bignell, UNE
Individual Champion: Cole Petit, West Texas A&M
Team Runner Up: University of New England – Maddie Bignell, Jack Jansen, Anna Johnston, George Simiana.
Team Champion: West Texas A&M – Caleb Baker, Jacob McMillan, Carter Mortensen, Cole Petit
Lamb Judging
Sponsored by Fletcher International Exports and presented by Gab Ryan.
Lamb carcases for the competition were sponsored by Coles.
Individual Runner Up: Cole Petit, West Texas A&M
Individual Champion: Austin Smith, Murdoch
Team Runner Up: West Texas A&M – Caleb Baker, Jacob McMillan, Carter Mortensen, Cole Petit
Team Champion: Charles Sturt University – Sophie Hanna, Olivia Henzen, Angus Pilmore, Jasmine Wholton.
Retail Cut and Saleable Item Identification
Sponsored by Coles and presented by Georgia Eastwood.
Individual Runner Up: Nick Loughlan, UQ
Individual Champion: Katja Zapf, UQ
Team Runner Up: West Texas A&M – Caleb Baker, Jacob McMillan, Carter Mortensen, Cole Petit,
Team Champion: University of Queensland – Lawton Elliot, Nick Loughan, Samuel Turner, Katja Zapf
Eating Quality Evaluation
Sponsored by NH Foods Australia, presented by Maria Thompson, Agstar Projects
Individual Runner Up: Harriet Taylor, Marcus Oldham
Individual Champion: Jasmine Wholton, CSU
Team Runner Up: University of Sydney – Rachel Franklin, Jessica Hua, Ryan McCluskey, Alice Shirley.
Team Champion: University of New England – Maddie Bignell, Jack Jansen, Anna Johnston, George Simiana.
Beef Judging
Sponsored by Teys Australia and presented by Stephen Thomson.
Individual Runner Up: Sophie Angus, USYD
Individual Champion: Lawton Elliot, UQ
Team Runner Up: West Texas A&M – Caleb Baker, Jacob McMillan, Carter Mortensen, Cole Petit
Team Champion: University of Queensland – Lawton Elliot, Nick Loughan, Samuel Turner, Katja Zapf.
Overall Placings
Sponsored by Kilcoy Global Foods and presented by Jemma Harper at AMPC
Individual Overall Runner Up: Caleb Baker, West Texas
Individual Overall Champion: Katja Zapf, UQ
Overall Team Runner Up: University of Queensland – Lawton Elliot, Nick Loughan, Samuel Turner, Katja Zapf.
Overall Team Champion: West Texas A&M – Caleb Baker, Jacob McMillan, Carter Mortensen, Cole Petit.
Overall Questions
Sponsored by Australian Agricultural Company and presented by Laura Garland from MLA.
Individual Overall Runner Up: Maddie Bignell, UNE
Individual Overall Champion: Lawton Elliott, UQ
Overall Team Runner Up: West Texas A&M – Caleb Baker, Jacob McMillan, Carter Mortensen, Cole Petit.
Overall Team Champion: University of New England – Maddie Bignell, Jack Jansen, Anna Johnston,
George Simiana
Beef Pricings
Sponsored by JBS and presented by Aaron Graham.
Individual Overall Runner Up: Cole Petit, West Texas
Individual Overall Champion: Katja Zapf, UQ
Overall Team Runner Up: University of Queensland – Lawton Elliot, Nick Loughan, Samuel Turner, Katja Zapf.
Overall Team Champion: University of Sydney – Rachel Franklin, Jessica Hua, Ryan McCluskey, Alice Shirley.