Tri-C team places fourth in landscape competition

Students from Lake, Geauga counties among those earning Top 10 finishes

A team of students from Cuyahoga Community College placed first among community colleges and fourth overall at the National Collegiate Landscape Competition held in North Carolina.

The 42nd annual competition attracted more than 60 of the top horticulture and landscape schools in the country, a news release stated. The competition challenges students in 30 individual or group events that require the expertise needed to work in the industry.

McKenna Rowles of Garrettsville led Tri-C by placing third out of nearly 750 students. She finished among the Top 10 in three events — irrigation assembly (first), landscape plant installation (third) and hardscape installation (sixth).

The 42nd annual competition attracted more than 60 of the top horticulture and landscape schools in the country.

In addition, Ross Clark of Russell Township finished 12th overall for the college while posting Top 10 scores in compact excavator operation (first), truck and trailer operation (fifth) and hardscape installation (sixth).

Other Tri-C students from Lake and Geauga counties who achieved Top 10 finishes, either individually or as part of a team, were:

• Sara Kalenits of Mentor: Tenth in two different categories: employee development and woody ornamental plant identification

• Stacey Lorenz of Willoughby Hills: Third in interior plant identification and 10th in employee development

• Frank Vareska of Mentor-on-the-Lake: Third in landscape plant installation

• Beth Whipple of Mentor: Fifth in annual and perennial plant identification

The competition at Alamance Community College in Graham, North Carolina, was organized by the National Association of Landscape Professionals and is a leading recruitment event for the landscape industry, where there is high demand for skilled workers, the news release stated.

Tri-C has emerged as a powerhouse in the competition in recent years, placing fifth overall in 2017, third in 2016, 10th in 2015 and fifth in 2014.

Tri-C’s Plant Science and Landscape Technology program — based at Eastern Campus in Highland Hills — prepares students for careers in landscape design and construction; garden center or nursery management; and other horticulture fields.