MALTA — Kishwaukee College sent a team of Horticulture students to compete in the National Association of Landscape Professionals College Landscape Competition (formerly PLANET). The annual national competition was held in March at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.
Participating Kishwaukee College students were Amanda Weides, Sycamore; Erick Entas, Batavia; Samantha Sury, Yorkville; Victoria Leverton, DeKalb; and Hannah Thompson, Rochelle. Horticulture faculty member Matt Ewert accompanied the students to the competition.
National Association of Landscape Professionals College Landscape Competition draws students from horticulture programs in colleges and universities from across the U.S. In addition to the competition, NALPCLC is known for being a networking event and draws a variety of horticulture-based companies from across the United States that are there to meet the top students in the country.

There are more than 30 competitions students may elect to participate in at NALPCLC. Matt Ewert requires each student to enter a minimum of two competitions. “We took five students and a couple of our students entered four or five competitions,” he stated. “Some of the big universities – like Michigan State, University of Georgia or Illinois State – send teams of 20 or 30 students. Overall team results are based on individual students’ competition point totals so as a team, we score lower than the larger teams by default. But in individual team competitions, I think we had a solid effort and strong showing against some stiff competition from university programs. We definitely have room for improvement, but I am really looking forward to next year!”
Placement
Kishwaukee College took 51st Place overall out of over 60 teams. Individual results of note include: Amanda Weides placed 49th  and Erick Entas placed 65th  out of the 672 students competing in overall scoring; Samantha Sury placed 41st and Victoria Leverton placed 56th out of 90 students in Annual and Perennial Identification; Samantha Sury placed 8th and Vicotria Leverton placed 25th  out of 46 students in Flower and Foliage Design; Hannah Thompson placed 27th out of 93 students in Woody Ornamental Plant Identification; Amanda Weides placed 36th out of 78 students in Interior Plant Identification; Amanda Weides placed 5th out of 44 students in Exterior Landscape Design; and the team of Erick Entas, Amanda Weides, and Hannah Thompson placed 27th out of 57 teams in Landscape Plant Installation.  
For more information on the Horticulture programs at Kishwaukee College, contact 815-825-9303.  Registration for the Summer and Fall 2017 is currently in progress. For more information on registration, contact Enrollment Services at 815-825-9375 or email arr@kishwaukeecollege.edu or visit www.kishwaukeecollege.edu.