MARION, OH (MARION COUNTY NOW)—Friday night, many gathered in Evers Arena to watch the Showmanship Sweepstakes where the best of the best battle to determine who would be crowned this year’s Showman of Showmen. 

This year’s title owner?

Braelyn Miller. 

“I was definitely nervous going into the sweepstakes because you are showing so many animals up against all of the best showmen in each species, so it is kind of nerve-wracking walking into it and not knowing what animal you are going to get and what’s going to happen,” Miller said. 

Miller, a 16-year-old at Marion Harding High School, shows sheep, goats, and hogs at the fair through the Banners and Backdrops 4-H Club. 

In the Showmanship Sweepstakes, exhibitors show a beef steer, market goat, chicken, rabbit, sheep, dairy feeder, beef feeder, hog, and dairy goat. 

Miller’s favorite animal to show, aside from the goats, was the hog. 

“Getting in there, because a lot of actually showed hogs, against a lot of other people who show hogs was a lot of fun to get up and see how you do against people that you know and that show hogs as well,” Miller said. 

Miller’s least favorite was the chicken. “I did not like the chicken; they just gross me out.”

Advice Miller gave to other showmen looking to improve in showmanship was to just stick with it.

“Don’t let anything discourage you. If you have a bad day, wake up the next morning and persevere and make sure that you always listen to everyone that is coaching you; don’t just ignore them, they do know best. Always show your best, never get discouraged, and keep on going.

The second-place winner on the evening was Addison Jordan.

Jordan, a 13-year-old eighth-grader at River Valley, is a member of the Banners and Backdrops 4-H Club, through which she takes hogs, sheep, and cattle. 

“I was pretty confident in myself. I have showed most of those animals before, so I was pretty familiar with it, I mean like the chickens and rabbits were a little nerve-wracking, but other than that it was pretty good,” Jordan said. 

Throughout the competition, Jordan’s favorite species to show was the cattle, and her least favorite was the dairy goats, as they kept stabbing her with their horns. 

Jordan’s showmanship advice was to watch other showmen. “Definitely watch. Pay attention to the people who are winning, pay attention to who is helping them, and pay attention to what they are doing to get there. Are their animals broke? Are they good? Or what’s going on, why are they winning?”

 

The other showmen and the species they represent are as follows:

Beef – Allyson Benedict

Market Goat – Braelyn Miller

Poultry – Issac Lust

Rabbit – Maddyn Ruth

Sheep – Callie Hoppes

Dairy Feeder – Maycee Muselin

Beed Feeder – Addison Jordan

Swine – Lyle Shore

Dairy Goat – Phoebe Smith