June, SpongeBob top 4-H sheep

There were only four competitors in the sheep contest - one senior and three juniors - yet it took more than an hour to get through the showmanship, meat and breeding competitions.

Hannah Warnes of the South Side Sparks took the grand champion in the senior division. In the junior class, Ayla Rehbein of the South Side Sparks nabbed grand champion with June while Kyla Warnes took the reserve with SpongeBob. Contestants also included John McNamara and Moriah Champneys, both of the Plains club.

Chad Booth of Post Falls, Idaho, judged the sheep competitions, along with his wife, Hannah. Chad Booth told the crowd he thought the kids did a great job of showing their animals and overall the animals looked like fine specimens.

Kyla Warnes took grand champion in the market arena while Hannah grabbed the reserve. In the breeding contest, McNamara took top honors with the over one-year-old under two-year-old sheep while Rehbein took the reserve. He also received the grand in the under a year category, along with purple ribbons in the ram lamb and ram over a year, as well as getting grand and reserve in the overall breeding class for ewe and ram.

Rehbein took purple ribbons in the fiber class category with Clover and Derby, two Olde English Babydoll Southdown sheep. This was the first time for this class at the Sanders County Fair, said Sanders County Extension Agent Juli Thurston, who heads the 4-H program.