It must run in the family.

Amy Guerra, a former champion in the swine category, came in second in the swine category Thursday to her younger brother, Michael Guerra, who took the category's first-place honor of Supreme Grand Champion during the Championship Drive at the Santa Barbara County Fair.

Amy Guerra, 18, of Santa Maria, is a member of Righetti FFA and Michael, who turns 12 today and is also from Santa Maria, is with Los Alamos Junior Grange 4-H.

Michael said he had entered lambs and turkeys in competition before, but it was his first time with pigs.

“I like how you don't have to really touch them. You just wash them,” he said.

Michael said his strategy for coming out on top was exercising his pig, named Man Bear Pig.

The Guerras were among the smartly dressed young members of FFA and 4-H clubs on the Central Coast, who, having won previous competitions, stepped into the ring in a barn at the fairgrounds in Santa Maria Thursday evening for the ultimate showdown of steer, goats, sheep and swine. The event came on the second day of the county fair, which runs through Sunday.

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The participants worked to hold the animals they had raised in position as a judge made decisions regarding the best entries in each category.

Cheers from an initially standing-room-only crowd sounded each time a winner was named.

Kandy Schminke, the judge in the sheep category, said she has been judging animals for 24 years all over the country.

The sheep entries Thursday were “outstanding,” she said, and she praised the sheep in the competition as “really high quality” and well-balanced.

Ten-year-old Kaitlyn Domingues of Orcutt, a member of County Line 4-H in Nipomo, was selected as Supreme Grand Champion in the goat category.

“I was very nervous,” she said of the competition. But after her win, “I was really excited,” Kaitlyn said.

Halle Bedford, 15, of Lompoc, a member of Lompoc FFA, competed in the Championship Drive in the steer category, but did not win any ribbons there.

“I did pretty good, but I didn't place,” she said.

Bedford said she hadn't entered a market steer since fifth grade, but “I've kind of always been into it” because she helps out on her grandparents' ranch in Lompoc.

Having a steer was “very time-consuming,” she said.

The Supreme Grand Champion in the steer category was Jacob Abatti of Nipomo Foothill 4-H, and the Reserve Supreme Grand Champion, or second place finisher overall in the category, was Matthew Arevalos of Lompoc Valley 4-H.

The Supreme Grand Champion in the sheep category was Sergio Arias of Vineyard 4-H, and the Reserve Supreme Grand Champion was Conner Vernon of Huasna Valley 4-H.

The Reserve Supreme Grand Champion in the goat category was Ashley Nightingale of Nipomo FFA.

Today's Santa Barbara County Fair schedule

Today (Agriculture &

Cattlemen's Day)

Today is the third day of the Santa Barbara County Fair, which runs through Sunday. Gates are open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily and the carnival remains open until midnight at the Santa Maria Fairpark, corner of Stowell Road and Thornburg Street in Santa Maria.

Each day ends with a free concert on the Center Stage. Tonight's entertainer is country singer Craig Morgan.

Daily admission is $7 for adults 12 and over, $5 for youth ages 6-11, and free for children ages 5 and under. Carnival wristbands, which allow unlimited rides, cost $25.

In addition to carnival rides and displays of local home arts and crafts, daily activities include entertainers, clowns and other characters, Kid's Town America, Go Karts, the Marketplace Pavilion, Rainforest Experience family show, Extreme Sports Zone, Cowboy Ken's Trackless Train, the Discovery Pavilion and the Wizards' Challenge interactive science show.

For more information, go to santamariafairpark.com and click on the County Fair link.

Scheduled events

today include:

8 a.m. - Replacement Heifers (FFA, 4-H), Fields Bradley Pavilion

10 a.m. - Country Rodeo Finals, Minetti Arena

11 a.m. - Bolie Lujan's Forever 27 Music Band, Center Stage

11 a.m. - Small Animal Auction, Auction Barn

11:30 a.m. - Wizard's Challenge Stage Show

Noon - Mutton Bustin' Registration, Minetti Arena Entrance

Noon - Small Stock Auction (Rabbits, Champions, Turkeys and Chickens), Auction Barn

Noon - Gascar Crazy Animal Races

1 p.m. - Dairy Cattle Show & Showmanship (FFA, 4-H), Fields Bradley Pavilion

1 p.m. - Mutton Bustin,' Minetti Arena

1 p.m. - Elmo and Friends, near Petting Zoo

1:30 p.m. - Unfinished Business, Center Stage

1:30 p.m. - Wizard's Challenge Stage Show

2 p.m. - Gascar Crazy Animal Races

3 p.m. - Unfinished Business, Center Stage

3 p.m. - Elmo and Friends, near Petting Zoo

3 p.m. - Rainforest Experience Show

3 p.m. - Calf Scramble (Follows Mutton Bustin'), Minetti Arena

3:30 p.m. - Wizard's Challenge Stage Show

4 p.m. - Elmo and Friends, near Petting Zoo

4 p.m. - Gascar Crazy Animal Races

5 p.m. - Auction - Replacements Heifers, Auction Barn

5 p.m. - Elmo and Friends, near Petting Zoo

5 p.m. - Rainforest Experience Show

5:30 p.m. - Hypnotist James Kellogg Jr., Center Stage

5:30 p.m. - Wizard's Challenge Stage Show

6 p.m. - Gascar Crazy Animal Races

7 p.m. - Doo Wah Riders, Center Stage

7 p.m. - Rainforest Experience Show

7:30 p.m. - Wizard's Challenge Stage Show

8 p.m. - Craig Morgan, Main Stage

8 p.m. - Hypnotist James Kellogg Jr., Center Stage

9:30 p.m. - Doo Wah Riders, Center Stage

Samantha Yale can be reached at: 739-2159 or syale@santamaria times.com.

July 11, 2008