If this year’s competition for the top spots in the Kentucky State Fair’s Sale of Champions was described baseball terms, then the Kentucky 4-H program can brag that they came within one title of “batting the cycle” by taking five of this year’s six major awards.

Susan Lee and Donna Hancock enter the 4-H record books for winning both major titles in their respective market lamb and market hog competitions, while Wesley Anderson added a reserve grand champion market steer title to the 4-H win list.

Susan Lee, a 4-Her from Clark County started the slugfest by taking both the Grand and Reserve Grand champion titles for the market hog division. Her grand champion hog was a 271 pound cross-bred guilt purchased for $12,300 while her reserve grand champion hog garnered an additional $8,000.

Lee put a lot a time and effort into raising her market hogs. She went as far as naming them “Tall” and “Long” which made the process of selling them a bit harder than usual. “I used a slightly different feeding program and walked them more before the show,” said Lee.

Susan is the daughter of Steve and Star Lee from Winchester, Ky. She has been a member of 4-H for nine years and her 4-H leader is Roy Turley. Her other interests include church youth groups, singing, playing the guitar and showing livestock. She plans on attending college with a goal of eventually working with the hearing impaired.

The Sale of Champions 4-H title spree continued when it was announced that Donna Hancock, a 17-year old 4-Her from Pulaski County, had swept both titles in the market lamb division.

Hancock’s 139-pound grand champion lamb brought a sale price of $12,250 and that was followed up with an additional $8,000 for her reserve grand champion lamb.

In baseball terms, Donna proved to be an adept batter from either side of the plate because last year she took home the grand champion title in the market hog competition.

Donna is the daughter of Mike and Carol Hancock from Eubank, KY. She has been involved in 4-H for nine years and her 4-H leader is Richard Whitis. Hancock excels in the classroom as well as the show ring. She carries a perfect 4.0 grade point average into her senior year of high school while pursuing other interests such as playing the piano and traveling. Her other 4-H interests include speech and livestock judging activities.

Donna had no special tips for taking home a champion banner. She has been showing some form of livestock her entire 4-H career which suggests that practice is a key to success. Boone County 4-Her Wesley Anderson didn’t hit the figurative home run, but he did connect for a lucrative Reserve Grand Champion Market Steer title. His 1,210 pound cross-bred steer garnered an $18,500 sale price.

Wesley is the son of Gary and Glenna Anderson of Burlington, Ky. Anderson has been involved with 4-H livestock activities for 8 years and his 4-H advisors during that time have included Kara Colvin and Christy Eastwood, 4-H agents in Boone County.

“Wesley is 150 percent dedicated to his 4-H activities and I would attribute much of his attitude towards these efforts to the support that his parent’s have shown to 4-H over the years,” said Eastwood.