Finley High School students finished on top at the Holbrook Sheep and Wool Fair, taking home the supreme exhibit prize for the sheep of the show.
Students from the school also won the best in show for a group of sheep they exhibited.
Twenty students from years 7 to 11 took part in the show from May 18 to 20 under the guidance of agriculture teachers Gary Webb and Robyn O’Leary.
The students blitzed a schools competition on the first day of the show, taking out the most successful school exhibitor award.
The Finley High School students were up against seven other schools from throughout southern NSW in the interbreed sheep competition, with four classes for ewes and four for rams.
Finley took home both the champion ewe ribbon and the reserve champion ram title.
Mr Webb said he was pleased with the students’ work.
“We were really proud to once again be awarded most successful school exhibitor,” he said.
The students then competed in the poll dorset breed competition, where they took home the ribbons for champion ewe, champion ram and champion group.
In the short wool interbreed class, Finley was triumphant with the champion ewe and champion group.
This progressed the school to the final of the interbreed class, where it won champion ewe and champion group.
The ewe then went on to become the supreme exhibit winner.
This was the second time Finley High School students have won the supreme exhibit at the show, having also taken the top gong last year with a different ewe.
Mr Webb especially praised Erica Hammond, who led the supreme exhibit winner in the show this year.
“She built a fantastic bond with the sheep. The more times she led it in the ring, the better she handled it,” Mr Webb said.
“It was pretty special when the sheep was awarded supreme exhibit.”
Mr Webb said the school was now trying to get students into the show ring more this year, after a “lean” couple of years with the show being cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The Finley students are heading to the Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show in July and the Australasian Dorset Championships in Bendigo in August.
“We have large numbers of enthusiastic students here that can’t wait to experience shows,” Mr Webb said.
‘It engages them in agriculture and it’s great to see them become enthusiastic about agriculture.”