MSU students earn awards, scholarships during national landscape competition

��Ƶ faculty and students celebrate wins at National Collegiate Landscape Competition. — ��Ƶ faculty and students celebrate wins at the 2022 National Collegiate Landscape Competition. (Photo submitted)

STARKVILLE, Miss.—��Ƶ students are award winners in a spring national landscape and horticulture competition celebrating 45 years since its inception at the university.

Students were recognized in numerous categories and received multiple scholarships during the National Collegiate Landscape Competition. MSU had two first-place finishers, seniors Makahla Holloway and Robbie Cummings, and the university’s team finished 7th overall out of 45 participating schools.

NCLC was founded in 1977 by the late Robert Callaway, MSU’s first landscape contracting and management professor. The competition is now associated with the National Association of Landscape Professionals and rotates locations among hosting universities. It annually awards the Robert A. Callaway Trophy, which travels with the top winning team. The event includes hundreds of top landscape and horticulture students who gather for three days to showcase their skills competitively. Students network with top industry leaders and may participate in the field’s largest career fair. ��Ƶ is the host for the 2023 competition.

Professor Timothy Schauwecker, coordinator of MSU’s Landscape Contracting and Management program, helps guide students during the competition.

“For our team to consistently place in the top 10 makes a great example of the strong program we have here and shows that our students are prepared to go into the workforce and be successful,” Schauwecker said. “I am happy to see these students do so well after they put in the work to get there. They continue this legacy that was started almost 50 years ago, and we are proud to carry it on.”

MSU awardees in the 2022 National Collegiate Landscape Competition include:

BATESVILLE—Reed Gordon, senior landscape contracting and management major, placed fourth, with partner Jared Nelson of Russellville, Alabama, in Irrigation Assembly.

BRANDON—Chase Means, senior landscape architecture major, placed fifth, also with partner Jared Nelson, in Irrigation Troubleshooting; and Matthew Stowers, senior landscape contracting and management major, was recognized as an NALP Foundation scholarship recipient of the Include Software Scholarship.

BREMEN, Georgia—Sage Smith, junior landscape contracting and management major, was recognized as an NALP Foundation scholarship recipient of the John Deere Landscape Industry Scholarship.

COLLIERVILLE, Tennessee—Dominic Fava, senior landscape architecture and landscape contracting and management major, placed fourth in 3D Exterior Landscape Design.

GERMANTOWN, Tennessee—Robbie Cummings, senior landscape contracting and management and landscape architecture major, placed first in Computer Aided Landscape Design.

HACKLEBURG, Alabama—Hannah Sanderson, senior landscape contracting and management and landscape architecture major, was recognized as an NALP Foundation scholarship recipient of the Tom and Carol Lied Scholarship.

HAMILTON, Alabama—Makahla Holloway, senior landscape architecture and landscape contracting and management major, placed first in Maintenance Cost Estimating. She also was recognized as an NALP Foundation scholarship recipient of the Bruce Company Scholarship.

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama—Emily Duncan, senior landscape architecture and landscape contracting and management major, was recognized as an NALP Foundation scholarship recipient of the Martha G. Hill Scholarship.

RUSSELLVILLE, Alabama—Jared Nelson, senior landscape contracting and management major, placed fourth, with partner Reed Gordon of Batesville, in Irrigation Assembly. He also placed fifth in Irrigation Troubleshooting with partner Chase Means of Brandon.

STARKVILLE—Dylan Rushing, senior landscape contracting and management major, placed fifth in Irrigation Design.

“I am excited for the exposure not only the school will get in 2023, but also for students and alumni to experience us hosting the upcoming competition. It is such a good way for students to understand the industry, how they can fit into it or how they could build a business for themselves.”

Learn more about the upcoming 2023 event hosted by MSU at .

For more on MSU’s Department of Landscape Architecture in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, visit

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at .

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