Junior judge a winner

First place: Ava Harris won First Prize last week in the Victorian Merino State Junior Judging competition ahead of Maxwell Pohl-Skillecorn, second, and Tiffany Maestrale, third. Photo: SUPPLIED

AFTER finishing in second place in the previous two Victorian Merino State Junior Judging competitions, Ava Harris won first prize at the Australian Sheep and Wool Show at Bendigo last weekend.

Junior judging combines the skills of visual assessment of livestock and public speaking.

Ava will now represent Victoria at the Perth Agricultural Show in 2026.

“It was really exciting to win after coming second for two years,” she said. “My friend Maxwell Pohl-Skillecorn was placed second.”

The latest win adds to a list of awards Ava has collected.

Earlier this year Ava was awarded First Prize in the Wimmera Autumn Merino Sheep Show Junior Judging Awards for the third consecutive year.

Last year she won the Junior Sheep Handler prize at the Victorian Sheep Show.

The Year 12 student at Catherine McAuley College has grown up with sheep.

Her father Alan is a third-generation farmer who operates Koole Vale Merino Stud with his wife Prue at Costerfield.

Despite her success, Ava plans to pursue a career in the health industry.

“But the farm and sheep will always be a special part of my life,” she said.