UMass Students Attend National Collegiate Landscape Competition
Over spring break, 11 students traveled to North Carolina State to compete in the National Collegiate Landscape Competition (NCLC). The National Collegiate Landscape Competition is an annual three-day event which brings together the top landscape and horticulture students, top industry companies, and dozens of the biggest industry manufacturers and suppliers. These top industry companies create and judge 31 different events that test students’ skills and knowledge.
The UMass NCLC Team was made up of students from Landscape Contracting, Arboriculture, Urban Forestry, Landscape Architecture and Horticultural Science and supervised by Michael Davidsohn from LARP and Kristina Bezanson from NRC.
Overall, UMass placed 13th out of 43 Colleges and Universities.
The top scoring three students in each event were recognized Saturday morning:
First Place – 3D Exterior Design – Andrew Reilly (BSLA)
First Place – Hardscape Installation – Amanda Ramsdell & Joseph Contardo (both Landscape Contracting): received an all-expense paid trip to the National Hardscape competition in Louisville this October to compete against professional contractors.
First Place – Tractor Loader Backhoe – Michael Zeleznik (Landscape Contracting)
Second Place – Arboriculture Techniques – Morgan Parent (Urban Forestry) & Ed Ortiz-Sanabria (Arboriculture)
Second Place – Landscape Maintenance Operations – Nicholas Commarano & Michael Zeleznik (both Landscape Contracting)
UMass team members:
Joseph Contardo – Landscape Contracting
Sean Heino – Landscape Contracting
Amanda Ransdell – Landscape Contracting
Michael Zeleznik – Landscape Contracting
Nicholas Cammarano – Landscape Contracting
Andrew Reilly – BSLA
Haruka Kushida – BSLA
Sydney Hussey – Horticultural Science
Celina Anctil – Horticultural Science
Morgan Parent – Urban Forestry
Ed Ortiz-Sanabria – Arboriculture
None of this would have been possible without the support of our alumni donations, corporate donations, and of course, the continued support of the Massachusetts Association of Landscape Professionals and the Massachusetts Arborist Association!!
Thank you all for supporting our students as they prepare to enter the Green Industry!
Michael Davidsohn, UMass Senior Lecturer II, MCLP, NALP
