ASHLAND — Judges crowned two area high school students on Sunday to reign as king and queen over the 173rd Ashland County Fair.
Sage Runion, a senior at Ashland County-West Holmes Career Center, and Nicholas Cartwright, a junior at Ashland High School, earned the crowns of queen and king following the opening ceremony for the annual fair.
Runion and Cartwright succeed Baylee Weber and Reed Twining, the fair’s royalty crowned last year.
Runion has been showing animals at the fair since she was 8 years-old. This year, she’s showing four goats. She hopes to enter into agricultural and veterinary science post high school.
Cartwright, this year’s sole king contestant, hopes to become a farmer. He said he’s been showing animals for years, too.
Runion was one of five queen contestants, who all became part of the junior fair’s royalty court. The others included:
- Kaitlyn Griffey: junior at Lucas High School and taking classes at Ashland University. She wants to study to be an intervention specialist or herd nutritionist.
- Scarlett Wilhelm: senior at Ashland High School. She wants to study biomedical engineering.
- Danielle Stemen: sophomore at Mapleton High School who wants to someday become a veterinarian.
- Chloe Crowe: senior at Ashland County-West Holmes Career Center, hoping to study animal veterinary science.