University of Maryland team members at the 2014 STMA National Conference in San Antonio, Texas. From left to right Brent Waite, Matt Park, Ryan Higgins and Brian Hogan.
“We had them scared from the start,” joked IAA student Brian Hogan as he and his teammates returned from San Antonio, TX with another national title.
The Sports Turf Managers Association (STMA) hosted the 2014 Student Challenge held in conjunction with its winter conference on January 22-24. This year’s Student Challenge hosted 34 teams within the two and four year categories and the TERPS team of Brian Hogan (IAA), Matt Park (IAA), Brent Waite (IAA) and Ryan Higgins (PSLA) won the gold with a score of 149.5 points. Virginia Tech placed second with a score of 141.0 while Purdue and Colorado State tied for third with scores of 139.
The Student Challenge tests participants in various areas relating to sports field maintenance from turfgrass weed, insect, and disease identification to field safety issues such as field hardness, traction, and overall playability issues. This is the fourth year that the IAA prepared a team for this national competition.
Hogan said he felt the eyes on them as their Maryland shirts elicited “whispers of there goes that Maryland team” from competing schools. His teammate Brent Waite admitted that the pressure of trying to repeat a win made him nervous and commented on the anxiety the team felt right before the results were announced, and then the excitement of taking the top spot for the second time.
IAA Director Glori Hyman credits the team’s success to coaches Dr. Kevin Mathias and Alex Steinman. “Kevin and Alex had the students in here [Jull Hall] studying and taking practice tests during winter break. Now, that’s dedication.”
As the winning team of the Student Challenge, UMD was awarded $4,000, which will be used to enhance lab activities for the sports turf management program.
