The Fresno State soil judging team celebrated a first-place overall finish in the Region 6 Collegiate Soil Judging Contest on Saturday, Oct. 25, near Chico to qualify for the 2026 national competition, which will be hosted by North Carolina State University March 22 to 27.
Four Fresno State seniors placed in the top 10 overall, including Mariela Perez-Garcia (second), Cristian Gutierrez (fifth), Will Dowling (eighth) and Mary Travioli (10th).
Among the 57 contestants, other Fresno State students who competed included Michaela Moore (12th), Paola Saenz (14th), Pedro Ramirez-Guerra (22nd), Allie Brown (24th), Sam Willis (27th), Daniela Thompson (38th) and Xander Hoopes (39th).
Students were scored based on their soil-pit observations, evaluations of physical and chemical properties, and projected feasibility in agricultural and engineering applications.
All Fresno State students are part of the Plant Science Department’s soil judging class, taught by lecturer and team coach Michael Sowers. He also works as a managing soil scientist at Valley Science and Engineering, a Valmont company.
Under his guidance, Fresno State also made trips to the national competition and placed top 25 overall in 2025 (16th), 2024 (24th), 2018 (15th), 2017 (20th) and 2016 (18th).
Other teams that earned 2026 national invites from the recent regional event included California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (second place) and New Mexico State University (third place). The six-team event was hosted by Chico State University at a private ranch.
