BYU Plant & Landscape Systems students won big at the 2022 National Collegiate Landscape Competition. After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a team of 37 students competed in a variety of landscape-related events at North Carolina State University.
Events at the national competition cover a wide range of topics including plant identification, landscape design, excavator operation, business management, and arboriculture techniques. Three BYU students finished first in their events:
- Business Management: Brayden Johnson
- Interior Landscape Design: Abby Kjar
- Plant Problem Diagnosis: Jesse Earl
All top three winners were recognized in the closing ceremonies. Five BYU students won second place in their events:
- Annual and Perennial Identification: Adam Boden
- Business Management: Ashley Beazer
- Employee Development: Johanna Davis and Gavin Heap
- Irrigation Design: Noah Stoner
Nine BYU students took third place in their events:
- Exterior Landscape Design: Rebekah Hogan
- Flower and Foliage Identification: Angelica Franco
- Irrigation Troubleshooting: Sam Merrill and Noah Stoner
- Landscape Plant Installation: Rebecca Decker, Katherine Shipley, Janetta Teichert
- Sales Presentation: Ashley Beazer
- Turf and Weed Identification: Clarissa Peterson
This year marked BYU’s eighth national championship since 2003. The national championship is made up of 30 individual competitions combined to form a team score. BYU remains defending champion for the fourth consecutive year.
BYU students also received 18 of the nearly 75 scholarships awarded at the competition. In total, BYU students received about $24,800 in scholarship money.
Team captains Janetta Teichert (‘22) and Ashley Beazer (‘23) taught a weekly class in preparation for the competition. They taught about goal-setting and resumes in preparation for networking opportunities. Plant & Wildlife Sciences professors Greg Jolley, Phil Allen, and Ryan Stewart coached the student team.
BYU Grounds offered students space to practice driving mock truck and trailer courses or digging and planting with speed and accuracy. “I had to set aside at least three hours a week to practice,” Teichert says. “It was lots of fun.”
Beazer says the team ran through each event three times before the competition. “We expected to do well because we prepare well,” she says. “It makes me happy that I could lead my team to [our win] because they worked hard and they deserve it.”
Results for each student and event are available on the National Association of Landscape Professionals website.