We have come to the last day of the competition! Our team was SO excited for the group pits; we established a really strong team bond and dynamic and were excited to see what we could do. We competed with lots of other teams from around the Midwest for the group pits since they were also coming from far away.
Starting the day with a team stretch.
Then it was off to the races! We were on a private farm, and got to see great examples of colluvium and residuum in these pits. UMN has a tradition of going barefoot in the group pits at competitions. It might not look like it from the pictures, but we did our best! We were navigating through many cow piles, if you know what I mean, but still kept the tradition alive. The first pit we have was classified as rhodic, which means that it has very deep red colors. 
Color team working hard
Look at this beautiful rhodic soil!
Our last pit of the contest was colluvium over residuum in the beautiful Piedmont. There were very strong clays and gorgeous colors.
We ended by packing up into our cars and beginning the trek home. Since having done the ride before, we were able to shave off a couple hours off the drive time (safely of course). We made it back to St. Paul Campus on Saturday morning. We were all glad to be home, but sad that such a fun journey had ended. We placed 15th in the competition at the end of the day. We are so happy and proud. I think I speak for everyone when I say we had the absolute time of our lives and an amazing adventure.
A massive thank you to everyone who has supported the team!! From the bottom of our hearts, thank you, thank you, thank you! We would not have been able to do this without you. Thank you for helping us see amazing soil, learn so much, and be a part of the soil community.
Don’t log off quite yet this year! We have a fantastic team traveling to the NACTA competition in Normal, IL this month. They will do amazing, we know it! We are also planning field days for more students to see pits, so stay tuned!
