MADISON, Wis. -- Sure, they were the reigning national champs, but at this year's contest the Big Red soil judging team had something more to show: their appreciation. "We dedicated our effort to Jeff Wagenet, who is currently fighting cancer," said John Galbraith, coach of the team and a research support specialist in Cornell's Soil, Crop and Atmospheric Sciences Department. Wagenet, former chair of the department, was touched by the gesture and was happy that the team returned placing third in the National Championship of Soil Judging, which was held this year at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Cornell scored 2,769 points on April 25, finishing behind first-place University of Wisconsin-Platteville (2,875 points) and second-place Iowa State University (2,806 points). The University of Kentucky took fourth place and Purdue, fifth. The national championship featured 16 collegiate teams that had qualified from regional contests.

The contest requires team members to describe soil to a depth of 1 meter, classify it, measure its qualities for agriculture, describe its landscape setting and identify possible limitations for use in an urban development. The answers were compared with a key developed by a panel of professional soil scientists.

On the team's show of support for their former department chair, Galbraith said: "Jeff's always been instrumental in supporting this team, both as a department chair and on a personal level."

With Wagenet's support, the soil judging team was outfitted with appropriate gear and procured a larger travel budget. The team is now well-armed with Munsell soil color charts, which show the color of soils at various saturation levels. Team members now carry Abney hand-levels, which assist them in evaluating slope, valuable for determining soil run-off or erosion. And the team now has its own library of soil taxonomy books.

"Travel to regional and national contests is now fully funded by our department, where teams at many other schools must raise funds for their own travel. The increased support under Dr. Wagenet is now being continued by current Chairman John Duxbury," Galbraith said.

Individually, the Big Red fared well. Joe Anderson, a junior from Atchison, Kan., took fifth place; Patricia Gossett, a senior from Aberdeen, N.J., placed ninth; and Sarah Kron, a senior from Aurora, Colo., placed 12th in the individual competition. Amy Martin, a senior from Kettering, Ohio, also participated in the team's national championship effort and at one site scored the highest point total of any of the 64 participating students.

Sponsored by the Department of Soil, Crop and Atmospheric Sciences in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the Cornell soil-judging team has won national championships in 1996, 1982 and 1962.

This is the third consecutive year the team finished in the top three.

"We practiced hard in Ithaca and in Wisconsin, but we went to learn as much as we could about Wisconsin soils, enjoy the trip and have a fun time doing it. Being prepared and being relaxed were the key factors," Galbraith said. "Placing well demonstrates that we're not just bookworms; we can go into the pits and into the fields as well as any other team or school." He explained this helps graduates compete for agricultural and environmental positions.

Team members learn to know and understand more than 18,000 different types of soils in the United States -- identifying soil color, texture, structure and water table indicators. Preparing for the contest helps produce top-notch future soil scientists, Galbraith said.

But, this year's team thought about Jeff Wagenet back home in Ithaca. Galbraith contacted him last week with the results and reported that Wagenet was proudly wearing a bright red Big Red Soil Judging Team sweatshirt.

While the team thought of him, Wagenet was thinking of them.