Recent Grant Union High School graduate Raney Anderson made the most of her final appearance showing animals at the Grant County Fair, nabbing a belt buckle and the title of “master showman” at the Heritage Barn at the Grant County Fairgrounds on Saturday, Aug. 12.

Anderson held off a fierce charge by Morgan Wyllie, who wound up taking home reserve master showman honors. Both Anderson and Wyllie traded show animals for the competition, with Anderson first showing her goat to the judge before moving to Wyllie’s white rabbit for a second part of the competition.

Both Anderson and Wyllie participated in and won round-robin events prior to the master showman competition. Anderson was the grand champion in the large animal round robin, and Wyllie took home grand champion honors in the small animal round robin.

“I had been in round robin before, but I’ve never won master showmanship,” Anderson said. “But I have won large animal showmanship.”

Anderson had always strived to be a master showman, a title she said is very important to her.

“You can go out and buy a really expensive animal and have the best animal market-wise, but that doesn’t show the work and dedication you put into your animal,” she said.

“Winning showmanship to me is a pride thing, and it’s super, super important to me. … It’s kind of a bittersweet moment because it is my last year, and there is really no better way to go out other than to win overall.”

The win for Anderson is extra special because she took a different route getting there, showing a goat instead of her usual steer.

“That was something new for me,” she said. “I’ve never shown goats before. This is my first year, and I figured it’s my senior year and I want to try something new.”

Anderson said she feels like her master showmanship win is the culmination of nine years of hard work in 4-H in a lot of ways, although winning the large animal round robin with a goat rather than a steer was an unexpected twist.

“I didn’t know how to show a goat,” she said. “I didn’t know how to get my goat to where I wanted him to be. I had to put in extra hours, whereas with my steer, I know how to train him and what to do to get him where he needs to be. … I had to work extra hard, so, yeah, it does make it a little more sweet.”

Anderson was presented with a purple ribbon and a belt buckle for her master showman win.