Cincinnati State landscape horticulture students win team and individual awards | Schools

CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19) - Students from Cincinnati State’s landscape horticulture program won team and individual honors during the recent Student Career Days competition, held this year on the campus of Joliet Junior College in Illinois.

More than 800 students from 60 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada participated in the event, sponsored by the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET).  In addition to the contests, the event included job fairs, tours and opportunities for students and faculty members to meet industry representatives.

In the 2011 team competition, Cincinnati State placed 20th out of the 60 schools. Of the teams that placed ahead of Cincinnati State, only four were community colleges; the rest were large scale university programs.  (Miracosta College’s program, run by former Cincinnati State faculty member Claire Ehrlinger, placed 21st.)

In the individual competitions, students were allowed to compete in up to five events.  Among the top performers for Cincinnati State:

•  Tyler Davis (a Mount Healthy resident), Compact Excavator Operation, 11th place.
• Tyler Davis, Computer Aided Landscape Design, 11th place.
• Zac Christman (from Clarksville, Ohio), Construction Cost Estimating, 12th place.
• Tyler Davis, Maintenance Cost Estimating, 15th place.
• Mark Wilson (Arlington Heights), Irrigation Design, 15th place.
• Zac Christman, Skid Steer Loader Operation, 10th place.
• Alex Benoit (a Milford resident), Turf and Weed Identification, 5th place.
• Blake Harpenau (Western Hills), 3D Exterior Landscape Design, 8th place.

Davis placed 12th overall out of the more than 800 students attending the competition.

In addition, Don Bischof (a Delhi resident) was recognized at the PLANET Academic Excellence Foundation’s scholarship reception with the Groundmasters, Inc. Scholarship. (Groundmasters was a local company that is now part of the Cincinnati-based Brickman Group Ltd.)

More information on the events can be obtained from http://www.studentcareerdays.org/.