Teen wins Grand Champion in meat rabbit category three years running

WELLINGTON — Jennifer Sedlak told her daughter, Corynn, not to get her hopes up this year to win grand champion in the single fryer rabbit class. Much to the family's surprise, Jennifer Sedlak's advice was wrong: The 15-year-old from Litchfield walked away with her third purple ribbon and grand champion title in a row this week. "It's pretty exciting — I mean three years in a row, that's like unheard of," Jennifer Sedlak said. The single fryer class is open to a rabbit of any gender between 3.5 and 5.5 pounds. Corynn's rabbit — which she did not name — was 5.3 pounds. All of Corynn's winning rabbits have come from the same mother, she and Jennifer Sedlak said, but the competition is a gamble because it is subjective on the judge's part. The judge this year laughed when Corynn told him this was her third grand champion title in the field, she said, noting it must be something in the rabbits' genes. "It's just a good thing to do and when you keep on winning; it just gives you that motivation to keep on doing it," Corynn said. She said she plans to keep showing single fryer rabbits until she ages out of the 4-H program. Meat rabbits weren't Corynn's first foray into livestock at the fair. She previously had shown her pet rabbit until a judge told her it was too "senior" to be shown at the fair the next year. After that, she and her older sister, Hannah, switched to meat rabbits. In the past, the family has entered chickens and, at one point, a feeder class steer — but swore never again to deal with the larger livestock when they got stuck with it for two years straight because it contracted ringworm. "I'd rather they do this than other stuff," Jennifer Sedlak said of her daughters. Corynn is part of the Midview Clover Critters 4-H group, started by Jennifer Sedlak's mother. Jennifer Sedlak said her sister took it over after her mother retired, and now Jennifer has been an adviser for the past 20 years — helping her three daughters through the program. Corynn is Jennifer Sedlak's youngest, and she plans to step down when Corynn ages out at 18. The rabbit was purchased at auction Thursday by Brian Fehlan of Fehlan Insurance for $350. He is giving it to one of his employees, who plans to keep it as a pet. Contact Carissa Woytach at 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.