Md. Teen Crowned Miss American Angus
(Continued from Page A 1)
ary, who runs the contest, sets
the guidelines for the queen’s
year.
When she won the contest,
Cortney received a scrapbook
which she will fill out and return
to the national auxiliary. Angus
operations across the country
donate items for her position,
which include bracelets, a belt
buckle, watch, luggage, and
wardrobe and travel allowance.
A Surprise
Her appointment to the posi
tion was a bit of a surprise to her
family.
Her parents had spent the af
ternoon of the coronation shop
ping for waterers and a trailer,
and arrived almost too late to
hear the announcement, which
happened just before the last
class.
Prior to the announcement
Cortney’s parents were, in fact,
out in a packed hallway the
arena was full of people waiting
to hear the announcement. They
ran out the door and around the
building just in time to hear
their daughter’s name called as
the new Miss American Angus.
Hill and Dukehart laughingly
recall that they had already
checked out of the hotel, packed
the truck, and did not buy tick
ets for the banquet, as they
planned on driving through the
night to allow Cortney to attend
classes the next day.
“We call this the power of
negative thinking,” said Hill.
“We kept pinching our
selves,” he said. “People kept
coming up and congratulating
her we were all just blown
away.”
Her mother is looking for
ward to traveling with Cortney
as her chaperone.
Her father, originally from
Texas, does not come from a
farming background and is an
auto technician. “WeTe just
having the time of our lives with
this, not having come from
this,” said Hill.
Her mother, from Howard
County, showed horses for years
and still has two as “pasture or
naments.” She also led 4-H
horse clubs. Although she would
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Cortney Hill-Dukehart is joined by her parents, Marlene
Dukehart and Robert Hill at the 18-acre Sunrise Sunset
Farm.
have enjoyed teaching Cortney
about horses, Dukehart is glad
that Cortney was given the
chance to decide which animals
to exhibit.
“When she joined 4-H that
first year, we bought her chick
ens. We sat her down at the end
of the year and she said, T want
a pig.”’ Later a sheep, then
steer, then Angus animals fol
lowed, but “it has always been
her decision to do it,” she said.
“All we did was support her
it was always something she
wanted to do,” said Hill.
Shows, Conferences
Her six mandatory shows will
send her to Colorado, Nevada,
back to Maryland, and Wiscon
sin, besides a conference in Cali
fornia. Cortney is chair of the
Eastern Regional Show.
Most recently she headed to
Wooster, Ohio to the Certified
Angus Beef headquarters, the
first queen to attend the seminar
that board members attend to
acquaint them more thoroughly
with the business.
She plans to attend state and
county fairs and field days. She
also attended the Pennsylvania
Farm Show. In addition she
hopes to attend a national junior
show in Calgary. She has been
invited to numerous state meet
ing and banquets.
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“A lot of the neighboring
states have been really suppor
tive,” she said. “It has been a
long time since there has been a
Miss American Angus from the
East.”
According to Cortney many
of the Miss American Angus
participants come from the Mid
west.
A Platform
Cortney looks at the position
as not only an honor but also a
platform.
“For Cortney to be a role
model for the younger girls is ex
citing,” said Hill. “I can remem
ber when she met her first Miss
American Angus. Cortney was
so excited that she remembered
her name,” said Dukehart.
Cortney is looking forward to
working one-on-one with
younger Angus sweethearts,
queens, and princesses as they
hand out ribbons together at
shows.
“Even my appearance can set
a standard even my carriage
sets an example,” she said.
While she is at an agricultural
event representing the Angus
breed, Cortney will wear the of
ficial red, black, and white
colors plus a jacket, sash, and
pin given to her.
The dress code changes with
location, as she will wear boots
and more western-looking wear
when she travels to Denver.
Her Show Ring Career
Cortney has enjoyed success
not only now as a representative
but in her own show ring career,
which was launched by 4-H par
ticipation.
In her first year of showing
Angus cattle she purchased two
steers, then switched to heifers,
a better option, according to her
mother, who became attached to
the animals. The steer Freckles,
for example, although not a
winner in the show ring, still re
sides at the farm.
4-H livestock judging partici
pation proved useful for Cort
ney as she picked out her first
heifers at a Virginia sale.
“Livestock judging helped me
to figure out which animal to
select, since I went to sales and
picked them out,” she said. She
participated on the Maryland
team that enjoyed success in the
national competition in Louis
ville. She is also lending her ex
pertise to 4-H’ers as a helper for
the livestock judging 4-H club.
After her first heifers were
purchased, “from there it just
kept snowballing every year.”
The farm is now host to 15 head
of heifers, steers, and one bull
now on bull test. All of the ani
mals are in Cortney’s name. She
is expecting a calf crop of five
calves this spring.
Cortney will be taking three
heifers and three steers to shows
this year, which may prove to be
a challenge as she will also be
handling Miss American Angus
responsibilities, such as handing
out ribbons during shows.
Last year Cortney had the
champion Angus heifer at the
Maryland State Fair, plus the
grand champion bull at Mary
land’s Breeders Show, in addi-
The farm’s cattle are joined by African Pygmy goats, five
cats, four large dogs, two horses, seven sheep, and a pot
bellied pig named Wilhemina.
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 19,2002-A37
tion to the champion cow-calf
pair at the same show.
She came away with premier
exhibitor honors at the Mary
land Breeders Show and at the
Maryland State Fair.
Cortney does all her own fit
ting and clipping. According to
her father, at a national show
she attended a several-day fit
ting school. “She had the tech
nique. She knew what she was
doing, she just lacked confi
dence,” he said. “When she
:ame back you couldn’t stop
her.”
“I would go down to the barn
and practice,” she said.
“Bob was afraid he was going
to get clipped,” said Dukehart.
Although heifers are usually
her animals of choice for the
show ring, Cortney still exhibits
steers and last year showed a
bull. She also enjoys showing
:ow/calf pairs.
“We’ve had so much fun
showing cow/calves,” said Hill.
“We start fooling with them
from the time they’re born.
They’re halter broke by the time
they’re two weeks old,” said
Dukehart.
Angus Association Activities
After Cortney’s first year in
the cattle ring, a friend informed
her that with Angus cattle she
could not only exhibit cattle but
also participate in other activi
ties. After that conversation
Cortney purchased an Angus
and quickly became involved
with the junior association.
At the junior national confer
ence, for example, she partici
pated in Leaders Engaged in
Angus Development (LEAD)
Conferences, which has opened
the door for participation in the
Her Own Fitting
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