Southeast Team Finishes Fifth in National Collegiate Landscape Competition
03/22/2017

A team from Southeast Missouri State University finished fifth March 15-18 in Hardscape Installation at the National Collegiate Landscape Competition at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Patrick Hoffmann, from Sedalia, Missouri, a recreation major with minors in horticulture and historic preservation, and Marty Aide of Cape Girardeau, an agribusiness, agriculture industry major, teamed up to take the fifth place honor. Six Southeast students participated in the competition for the first time this year, with each student participating in up to four events. The competition attracted 672 students from 60 colleges and universities. “For our first year, the students did outstanding!” said Heidi Clark, instructor of agriculture at Southeast. “It is such a wonderful experience for networking, gaining new knowledge and experiencing other universities across the country. The students all worked very hard outside of class time to prepare. We also could not have competed without the help from our sponsor, Montgomery Bank.” In addition to the competition, events included workshops for students to get hands-on experience to practice their particular event, a networking reception, an opening ceremony and career fair. Southeast students landed five interviews for potential internships and full-time job placement at the event. Other Southeast teams competing were: Truck and Trailer Operation: Aide and Tyler Wood, an agribusiness horticulture major from Columbia, Illinois Landscape Maintenance Operations: Aide and Wood Computer Aided Landscape Design: Cody Heisserer, an agribusiness, horticulture, major from Scott City, Missouri Interior Landscape Design: Adam Way, an agribusiness, horticulture major from Jackson, Missouri Business Management: David Pittman of Frankfort, Illinois, an agribusiness horticulture major and business administration minor from Frankfort, Illinois Turf and Weed Identification: Way and Pittman Landscape Plant Installation: Pittman, Heisserer and Aide Exterior Landscape Design: Hoffmann. Clark says many of the students plan to return to compete again next year when the National Collegiate Landscape Competition will be held at Alamance Community College in Graham, North Carolina.