NOC’s Jennifer Bedwell named Livestock Judging National Coach of the Year
Northern Oklahoma College Livestock Judging Coach Jennifer Bedwell has been named the National Junior College Livestock Judging Coach of the Year.
Bedwell, in her third year at NOC, earned the award after leading the NOC Livestock Judging Team to its first Team of the Year recognition after the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo on March 19.
Bedwell’s team also had four All-Americans including Anna Hannon, Olivia Gerloff, Kale Campbell, and Cooper Thompson.
“I am so blessed to have coached these kids,” Bedwell said. “They are the hardest working kids I’ve seen and the fact that I received an award for their hard work is more a reflection of who they are than who I am. They earned all the accolades and I was just fortunate to be with them.”.
Interestingly enough, Bedwell never judged in high school at Fairview, Oklahoma. She came in as an “in-house” judging contestant at Oklahoma State University in the fall of 2016. In the span of a year and three months, with the help of her coaches, she taught herself the evaluation skills and oral reasons format in order to be competitive.
In November of 2017 the team from OSU was named the 2017 National Champion Livestock Judging Team and Bedwell was named Fourth High Individual Overall. Upon graduating with her undergrad, she worked as the assistant coach for the 2019 National Champion Livestock Judging Team. She began working at NOC in May of 2020.
Just over six years after her first set of oral reasons, Bedwell was named the first ever female to win “Junior College Livestock Judging Coach of the Year.” Along with this honor, Bedwell was the first recorded female coach to win The American Royal, The North American International Livestock Exposition and The National Western.
“I can’t imagine where I would be had I not given that first set of reasons and turned in that first judging card in practice, but my life has forever been changed,” she said.
“It is amazing what Jennifer has achieved in such a short period of time,” said NOC President Clark Harris. “From the very beginning, I could see the drive that she has to compete at a high level. A drive that she has instilled into her team. Coach Bedwell is an excellent mentor to her team and has been able to shape her team through work. That demanding work probably included listening to thousands of sets of reasons. This work has paid off as they were usually first or second in oral reasons in each competition.”
“I am pleased that she chose to coach at NOC. I am also delighted that she has recruited such talented young people, with excellent character. She and her students are a joy to be around, as they demonstrate that character every day.”
“I am beyond proud of Coach Bedwell being named as Junior College Coach of the Year,” said Tricia Moore, NOC Division Chair for Agriculture and Biological Sciences. “In the three years she has been at NOC, Bedwell has recruited some of the best livestock judgers in the nation and has honed their skills to achieve outstanding results at the collegiate level. She has a strong work ethic and the competitive nature to highly motivate her students. When I hired her, I expected her to do great things as a livestock judging coach and she has not disappointed. She has made a tremendous impact on NOC Agriculture by developing the most competitive livestock judging team in the nation, in a very short period of time. NOC is lucky to have her and we are excited to see what the future holds for our Livestock Judging Program under her direction.”
Bedwell has deep roots in the livestock industry, raising and showing cattle with her family. During her undergraduate studies at OSU, Bedwell received her bachelor degrees in both animal science and agricultural communications. She earned her Master’s Degree in Agricultural Communications from OSU in May of 2020.
Bedwell is excited to continue her coaching career at NOC and plans to bring home many more National wins to Tonkawa.
“This is only the beginning,” Bedwell said. “When I got the job at NOC, my goal was to create a culture of success. We have succeeded in doing that. However, I firmly believe you are only a success at the one moment in time when you compete a successful act. The team from NOC will continue to procure success.”
Northern Oklahoma College, the state’s first public two-year community college, is a multi-campus, land-grant institution that provides high quality, accessible, and affordable educational opportunities and services.
NOC serves nearly 4,000 students through the home campus in Tonkawa, branch in Enid, and NOC/OSU Gateway Program in Stillwater. Of these students about 80% receive financial aid and/or scholarships. 75% of NOC students complete their degree with zero debt.
The college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and offers associate degrees in three general areas: Arts, Science and Applied Science; the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs; and the Accreditation Commission for Education and Nursing.
For more information about Northern Oklahoma College please call (580) 628-6208 or visit the NOC website at www.noc.edu.
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