MOUNT VERNON — Landscape Design & Management students at the Knox County Career Center competed in the National Collegiate Landscape Competition (NCLC)
March 18-21 at Michigan State University in East Lansing, MI.
The career center was one of two high schools that competed with over 50 colleges and universities and over 700 competitors.
KCCC competed in 11 events at NCLC. Those events and competitors included: Annual & Perennial ID (Logan Marsell), Compact Excavator Operation (Charley Beheler), Compact Track/Skid Steer Loader Operation (Weston Bostic), Construction Cost Estimating (Weston Bostic & Ethan Hurlow), Hardscape Installation (Kyra Carpenter and Weston Bostic).
Irrigation Assembly (Logan Marsell & Hudson Henry), Landscape Plant Installation (Kyra Carpenter, Weston Bostic and Ethan Hurlow), Mini Track Loader Operation (Hudson Henry), Truck and Trailer Operation (Charley Beheler & Hudson Henry), Turf and Weed Identification (Ethan Hurlow), and Woody Ornamental Plant ID (Brandon Derflinger).
Kyra Carpenter and Weston Bostic finished in ninth place out of 39 teams in Hardscape Installation. Weston Bostic finished 14th out of 41 teams in Compact Track/Skid Steer Loader Operation. Charley Beheler and Hudson Henry finished in 22nd place out of 40 teams in Truck and Trailer Operation.
“Our seven students from Landscape Design & Management who competed at the National Collegiate Landscape Competition in Michigan represented KCCC very well. Our students competed at a high level, and I’m proud of each one of them,” said John Campbell, KCCC’s Landscape Design & Management instructor.
The NCLC is where landscaping careers take root. Hosted by the National Association of Landscape Professionals, this event has been the landscape industry’s career-defining event for 50 years, helping students launch their future and employers discover top talent.
NCLC brings together students, faculty, and industry representatives for four days of hands-on competitive events, a career fair, educational workshops, scholarship events, and networking.