The Vandegrift Veterinarian Tech team took eighth place for the Jersey Village Vet Science Invitational in Cypress, Texas and will move onto their next competition on April sixth.

“It takes a lot of dedication to memorize parasites,” Agricultural science teacher Magan Escamilla said. “I’m extremely proud. Where they are in their scores right now, I think we’ve got a shot of going to the state competition.”

The team of five girls had a lot to do in the competition: a test to take, memorize parasites, breeds of dogs, cats, cattle, horses, swine, lambs, goats, and exotic animals. They also had to know over a hundred veterinary instruments and perform a skill set.

“It feels great,” junior Ariana Battiste said. “I feel like winning in the top ten really proved to the other teams that we’re a force to reckon with.”

The Vet Tech team has four more invitational competitions until their area competition, which will determine whether or not they are state bound.

“I’m really grateful that we got eighth place,” senior Lila Ross said. “We’re still working really hard and it was just nice to know that all the hard work that we put in paid off.”