By MEGGIE I. FOSTER
Assistant Editor

COLUMBUS, Ohio — For five Ohio dairy exhibitors at the Spring Dairy Expo, winning a class is always rewarding, but spending time with family and friends is priceless.
While there is plenty of time at the Expo to catch up with old friends and kick back with family, when it’s show time, it's serious business.
And on March 31 during the Supreme Champion class, it’s no different.
Five cows, each representing their own breed entered the arena at the Ohio Expo Center, all competing for the same title, Supreme Champion.
The champion class: Doug Fenton of Winchester, Ohio and his champion Aryshire aged-cow, Emerald Farms Brendan’s Cheetah; Keith Topp of Topp-View Swiss in Botkins, Ohio exhibited the winning Brown Swiss, Heiz Acres JW Princess; Leslie Bowen of Rockford, Ohio exhibited the winning Holstein aged-cow, Viaduct Lee Baue; the champion Jersey five-year-old, JWH Counciller’s Sweet Pea was exhibited by Smarts Jerseys and Jake Hershberger of Anna, Ohio; and Dave and Cindy Climers of Tress-Colles Farms in Chillicothe, Ohio showed the winning Milking Shorthorn 4-year-old Tress-Colles Oliver’s Hazel.
Each cow unique by color and form, only one could be named Supreme Champion on a rainy afternoon in late March.
The judges Mark Rueth, Bob Griggs and Chris Hill joined at the center of the arena to glance at the champion cows, each cow vieing for the opportunity to be named Supreme Champion.
Rueth and Hill made the final decision when selecting the winner during the last event of the Spring Dairy Expo.
“We didn’t know what to expect because every judge is different,” said Holstein champion Leslie Bowen.
Bowen’s cow commonly nicknamed Bodacious is a “great big dairy cow that’s great to be around.”
“It doesn’t take anything to get her ready either,” said owner Steve Bowen. “She is automatic.”
The Ayrshire winner weighed in on his chances to be named the champion of all breeds.
“We are pretty excited, but we know there are some good cows out there today,” said Fenton, owner of Cheetah, the champion Ayrshire.
The champion Milking Shorthorn owners said their cow is particularly unique because she is “home-grown,” meaning not sired through A.I.
“We were surprised when the judge named our Hazel the champion Milking Shorthorn,” said Cindy Climer, of Tress-Colles Farms. “It’s just luck that she has done so well for us. Hazel is a home-grown cow, her sire was raised on the farm and was just used as a clean-up bull.”
The winning Jersey “has been so close, but hasn’t gotten it done before,” according to owner Ted Smart of Smarts Jerseys.
“This is Jake’s (other half-owner of champion Jersey) last year is 4-H, so we hope he can finish out his 10th year by winning here.”
For the Brown Swiss champion with “an excellent pedigree,” it’s “about time.”
“This is Princess’ first time at the Spring Show,” said Eric Topp of Topp View Swiss.
“She is one of the barn favorites, we get lots of compliments from people on how nice she looks. We were surprised when she finally did it.”
Judges Rueth and Hill seemed to agree when they named Princess the Supreme Champion of the 2007 Spring Dairy Expo.
“Basically this class is between two cows, the Swiss and the Jersey,” said Judge Hill.
“But today it’s a hands-down winner, your Supreme Champion is going to be the Swiss and Reserve is going to be the Jersey. Please pull those two cows out, congratulations.”
A big smile doned the face of the supreme winner Keith Topp when parading Princess forward for her first photo as the Supreme Champion.
But for the Topp family in Botkins, she is more than just a pretty cow.
“She is one of the most gentle cows in the barn,” said Eric Topp.
“She has a great pedigree, scored an excellent 92 points last year and milks out in minutes.”
Princess is no stranger to the show circuit, according to Topp.
She was nominated All-American as both a 3-year-old and a 4-year-old.
And the Topp family is no stranger to success in the show arena either. The Topps have been showing Brown Swiss and Holsteins almost their entire lives. Mary-Lou, Eric, Keith and Phillip have established a successful line of show cows, including 19 Excellent Brown Swiss, 17 Excellent Holsteins and one Excellent Ayrshire. Only a glimpse of their show winning accomplishments include: the 1998 World Dairy Expo Brown Swiss Grand Champion and the 2005 Reserve Grand Champion Brown Swiss at the World Dairy Expo.
The Topp family plans to take Princess along with the rest of their winning show-string to the Ohio State Fair next and then to the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisc. in the fall.
In addition to naming the Swiss Supreme this year, the Expo also featured a dairy trade show, silent auction, the Buckeye Classic Elite Holstein Sale, Buckeye Classic Jersey and Guernsey, as well as the Midwest Revue Brown Swiss Sale.
For more details and complete show results, go online at www.springdairy expo.com