In the opening week of the NC State Fair, many kids from across the state travel to Raleigh to compete in various livestock competitions. This year, Rocky Mount Academy’s very own junior, Lillie Medlin, won the Grand Champion title in the overall Senior Showmanship category for showing her six month old lamb: Moses. Lillie’s hard work in raising and training her lambs is something that those that know her are quite familiar with. After all of her dedication, it is easy to see why her passion for livestock has been recognized at this year’s fair.

Lillie has been showing lambs through her local 4-H program since she was nine years old. Every day, she drives thirty minutes to where her lambs are kept to work with them and prepare them for the many shows that they will attend. This meticulous work includes taking care of the lambs’ coats to make sure that they are presentable for the showing season. The lambs are also fed a strict diet in order to maintain an ideal weight. Lillie also has to keep the lambs in shape by walking them ¾ of a mile every day. Lillie first started working with Moses in the middle of April and has been preparing for the fair ever since.  Lillie will be the first to tell you that, inevitably, all of this taxing work has taught her the meaning of true hard work. Every year, starting at the end of August, Lillie begins to compete in the Eastern Carolina Showmanship Circuit every Saturday until the State Fair in October. Every week, competitors earn points based on how well they show their lambs and how well their lambs represent what the judges are looking for. At the end of the circuit season, awards are given out to the top point winners. This year, Lillie placed second in the overall nine week competition. When asked about winning her impressive awards, she replied by saying that, “My time in 4-H and showing lambs can be summed up by the quote ‘The only time success comes before work is in the dictionary.’ After years of working with my lambs, I am proud of my accomplishments along the way and winning Grand Champion makes me feel like my hard work has all been worth it.”

The Showmanship competition at the fair took place on Thursday and Lillie competed with 125 other showers hoping to win it all. Every move counted and there was a lot riding on both Lillie and Moses. After everything was said and done, the judges were very impressed with the duo and Lillie was the chosen winner out of all of her competitors. After making the first round cut for all of her four years competing in Showmanship, Lillie made it to the final round and came out a champion. Next month, Lillie will travel to Louisville, Kentucky to compete in the North American Livestock Exposition which consists of 2,000 competitors. Lillie also hopes to travel to Colorado, Arizona, and Kansas to compete in even more large-scale events.

Lillie hopes that her passion for livestock will allow her to do more of what she loves in the years to come. This year, she plans on breeding two of her own ewes for the first time and has high hopes for showing their offspring. Lillie has the desire to keep livestock in her life for years to come and truly enjoys the fulfillment of starting with nothing and making her own success. As an adult, she even hopes to house lambs for 4-H competitors like herself so that they can have the means to raise award-winning sheep the way that she has. Lillie’s success in showing lambs has been rewarding so far, to say the least, and with her determination, the sky is the limit!