The Iowa State men’s basketball team may not have brought home the national championship, but a different ISU team became national champions in St. Josephs, Mo., last weekend.

After a three-day competition with 12 other teams, the ISU Meat Evaluation Team came out the winner of the United National Collegiate Meat Animal Evaluation Contest. Tuesday’s official results showed that ISU won first place in three of the contest’s four divisions and second place in the fourth division.

Jamie Goedken, a senior in animal science, earned the overall individual honors out of the 94 students competing. Eight ISU team members placed in the top 20 of the contest.

Brad Skaar, team coach and associate professor of animal science, said no team has been this successful across the span of the contest. He said the team members showed their ability to work together by winning the communications division by a record number of points.

The competition is an opportunity to showcase the talents of students in the meat animal industry, Skaar said.

“It challenges students to demonstrate knowledge of the animal industry from farm to fork,” he said.

The competition is considered the national granddaddy of all livestock judging events because it is the most comprehensive event of its kind, Skaar said. Students compete in four divisions—breeding livestock, market animals, meats and communication—for each species of swine, sheep and beef.

ISU last won the competition in 1983 and has since consistently placed second. Skaar said the ISU team has historically been a very strong team and no other team has routinely placed in the top two positions.

Craig Belkamp, a senior in animal science, placed second overall. He said the contest provides an excellent opportunity to meet other students from other universities.

“After being on the meats judging team and the livestock judging team, I felt as though the meat animal evaluation team would be an excellent way for me to tie together all the knowledge I’ve learned in the past years,” Belkamp said.

The 14-member team started practice in February. Members are only allowed to compete on the team once during their careers.

The team is open for any interested student who completes certain classes.