Dizzying pace

It’s very tough keeping up with Waurika senior Katie McCauley

Jeff Kaley

WAURIKA — Being Katie McCauley lately has been enough to make another person dizzy.

In addition to keeping up with her regular school work, since late January, the Waurika senior has been setting a hectic pace, and there’s no immediate sign McCauley will be slowing down.

Good to have teenage energy. It’s been necessary for McCauley in keeping up with a schedule that’s included:

• Showing a champion Poland hog at the National Western Stock Show in Denver, Colo.

• Playing for the WHS Lady Eagles basketball team down the stretch of its 2009-10 season.

• Being a queen candidate at the Waurika Basketball Homecoming.

• Joining members of the Waurika FFA Chapter on a visit to the Oklahoma State Capitol.

• Being among the Waurika Chapter officers who hosted a visit from state FFA officers.

• Participating in a variety of events that are part of Waurika’s National FFA Week observance.

• Grooming and preparing an entry for the Jefferson County Junior Livestock Show that begins on March 6.

And if that weren’t a full enough plate, McCauley’s also found room to be selected as a finalist candidate for a state FFA office.

Whew!

Where to begin recounting some of McCauley’s whirlwind activities? Well, the National Western Stock Show seems a good launching pad.

On Jan. 22, McCauley’s champion Poland brought $2,500 at an auction of junior livestock champions that accompanies the show in Denver, where more than 981 animals from 27 states competed.

“I had entered a random drawing that’s picked by a computer from 700 entries from around the nation,” McCauley said, explaining how she ended up in the national show. “You can take two pigs, but one of mine was crippled and the one I took got sick when we got (to Denver). He started eating when we got there though.”

McCauley’s animal, simply known as “Pig,” had been purchased as a 6-month-old from a breeder in Nebraska.

In addition to showing the Poland, McCauley said to win the national title “I had to take a test and make a speech, and then I had to go before a three-person board.”

Along with to winning a banner and receiving the premium check, being a national champion meant McCauley will be in the premium exhibitor’s competition. “I won’t know the results for that until March,” she noted, “but you can win a trailer and a buckle.”

Raising show animals and being involved in FFA is just part of McCauley’s DNA. Her father, Richard, was agriculture business teacher and FFA chapter advisor at Waurika for 16 years. He spent three years as principal at Sterling, before going to work as a show feed specialist in Oklahoma and Texas for Kent Foods.

“I’ve been showing animals since I was about 3,” Katie McCauley said. “The thing I like most now is just traveling across the country and meeting people.

“I like to compete and enjoy being in the shows, but I have more fun just being there.”

Although she doesn’t plan to compete Saturday in the Waurika FFA’s local show competition, McCauley will compete in the Jefferson County Junior Livestock Show — this time with what, for her, is an unusual entry.

“I’ll show a goat for the first time,” she revealed. “I’m not sure why, but I decided to try a goat.

“I showed sheep in the past and liked it, so why not show a goat? I’ll show it at the county and the Oklahoma City Stock Show.”

Busy with the Waurika FFA’s activities during National FFA Week and getting ready for the county show, McCauley found out this week that she has a chance to make WHS history.

In a press release, Waurika FFA Reporter Brandi Clark announced, “On Feb. 13, Katie McCauley was selected as a finalist candidate for state FFA officer. After months of rigorous training to prepare for the nominating committee process, McCauley emerged as one of only three remaining candidates for the office of Central District vice president. This year, there were 62 state candidates in all.

“If elected, McCauley would be the first state officer from the Waurika FFA Chapter since Buron Howard served as state FFA reporter from 1945-46.

“To emerge as a finalist candidate, McCauley met with a 10-member panel. During this process, she was interviewed individually by each panel member, gave a three-minute speech, took an examination over FFA history and bylaws of the national constitution, and also participated in a writing evaluation. All of this was taken into consideration to gauge her aptitude to serve the Oklahoma FFA Association next year.”

The final selection for state officers will be announced on April 24, at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City. Until then, McCauley will join other finalists in traveling the state to meet with FFA members and advisors.

Amidst all these ag-oriented activities, McCauley also found time to cap her high school basketball career, which ended with a surprise — and some pain.

After playing the regular season on a right knee with a damaged ACL, McCauley had 4 points and 9 key rebounds when a 55-47 overtime victory gave the Lady Eagles their first win in four games against Wilson. More importantly, it was the WHS girls’ first Class A district win since 2000, and although they lost to No. 1-ranked Chattanooga in the district final, the Lady Eagles advanced to the regional for the first time in a decade.

McCauley re-injured the knee in the game against Chattanooga, but noting that she’d “never played a full season before” because of injuries, she was on the court Thursday in a regional loser’s bracket game against Stonewall. McCauley managed to play over two quarters and finished with 7 points in the 58-46 loss that ended Waurika’s season.

“It doesn’t hurt much,” she said, going into the game. “They think the ACL and meniscus are torn, so it has to be fixed anyway.”

When McCauley will find time for that corrective surgery is anybody’s guess. In addition to all the upcoming FFA activities, the honor roll student is about to graduate and move on to a future that may be tied to agriculture.

“I want to get an ag business degree and go to law school and be a lawyer for ag-related work; maybe go to work for Farm Bureau as a lobbyist and maybe get into politics,” she said.

“I’ll go to OSU for the ag-business degree, and then I’d like to go to OU to get the law degree.”

Doesn’t sound like Katie McCauley plans to slow down her dizzying pace any time soon.

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