The annual Limestone County Cattlemen's Association beef cook-off was held Friday at the Limestone County Career Technical Center. From left are Sheila Lightfoot, culinary arts instructor; Mike Owens, interim superintendent of Limestone County Schools; Janet Prater, beef cook-off judge; Daveen Stanford, secretary of the Limestone County Cattlemen's Association and cook-off organizer; Zach Tribble, senior division winner; Marian Cortez, senior division contestant; Coty Hinkle, senior division contestant; David Norris, junior division winner; Jamie Norris, family and consumer economics teacher at Clements High School; Marcie McFalls, family and consumer science teacher at Tanner High School; and Jack Batts, past president of the Alabama Cattlemen's Association.

Two Limestone County Schools students will advance to compete in the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association state beef cook-off.

Zach Tribble, a student at the Limestone County Career Technical Center, won the senior division for his Cabernet Braised Short Ribs. David Norris, a student at Clements, was the only junior high contestant and will compete in the cook-off’s junior division.

In the senior division, Marian Cortez of Tanner placed second with her beef tacos and Coty Hinkle of Clements placed third with his Classic Beef Stuffed Peppers.

Competing students all received a check from the Limestone Cattlemen’s Association.

The state cook-off will be held April 4 at Carver High School in Montgomery.

The local event was judged by Janet Prater, whose association with the event dates back more than 25 years; Jack Batts, a past president of the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association; Mike Owens, interim superintendent of Limestone County Schools; and Adam Smith, editor of The News Courier.

While a time to celebrate student achievement, it was also bittersweet as Daveen Stanford, secretary of the local Cattlemen’s Association and event organizer, announced this year’s cook-off would be her last as she plans to retire in January. Sheila Lightfoot, a culinary arts instructor at the LCCTC, also announced it would be her last local cook-off as she is retiring in May.

Stanford, who has been secretary of the Limestone Cattlemen’s Association for 26 years, has been organizing the student beef cook-off for 28 years.

“You have been wonderful all these years, and we have always appreciated you coordinating this event because you’ve taken really good care of us,” Lightfoot told Stanford. “The people on the state level mention your name on a regular basis.”

Owens said he had known Stanford longer than “anyone else in the building.” He added she had “given her life to this association in so many ways.”