FILE: The welcome sign to Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Photo credit: AP Photo/Rick Bowmer.
SALT LAKE CITY — The BYU landscaping program took home the title from the National Collegiate Landscape Competition this month. This is the program’s fourth title in a row.
The NCLC is held by the National Association of Landscape Professionals, and this year was the first competition after a two-year hiatus.
The competition, held from March 16 through 19, took place at North Carolina State University. This year marked the 46th competition in its history, according to the landscape association’s website.
BYU’s overall score of 4739.68 put it at the top of over 40 other schools.
The score came from 30 individual competitions, the school said, noting that competitions included landscape design and irrigation assembly.
The school said this title is the eighth national title for BYU since 2003.
Most of the landscaping team works for BYU Ground, according to the school, which maintains the school’s outdoor settings.
“We were like many of the schools in that we didn’t have a lot of experience on our team since the competition hasn’t been held for the last two years,” said Faculty Adviser Greg Jolley, a BYU professor of landscape management. “Our partnership with BYU Grounds has been critical in keeping our students ready.”
Jolley said that employees spent months in advance helping students prepare.
“They are our secret weapon,” he said.
Five of the employees joined students in attending the competition in North Carolina.
The landscaping team was led by two captains; Janetta Teichert and Ashley Beazer.
“Of course we want to represent ourselves and BYU well; to show everyone that we are hardworking, that we have integrity and that we love what we are doing,” Beazer said. “But we really love the chance to go out and meet students from other schools, help them however we can and build lasting relationships.”
The school said there were 37 BYU students competing at this years competition. Those students won 18 of the 75 awards scholarships awarded, which the school said totaled nearly $25,000 in scholarship winnings.
Jolley said that the relationship with the association has been good for BYU’s landscape program. The association has a fund named after the late son of BYU landscape management professor Phil Allen, The Scott Allen Memorial Scholarship.