ROME TOWNSHIP — Brenna Morris brought her feeder steer to the fairgrounds on Saturday to prepare the calf for Thursday’s competition.

The early arrival was supposed to give the animal time to get comfortable to its new surroundings but, after a vicious dog attack left the calf’s tail mangled it looked like Morris would be left out of the competition all together.

“I didn’t even decide to put him into the show until today (Thursday),” Morris said. “I thought, I came to compete so I’m going to compete.”

Morris did more than compete; she took home the grand championship, accomplishing a feat she didn’t think was possible after Saturday night’s setback.

“I didn’t think a judge would ever select a calf that had been injured like that,” she said. “But, the judge was able to look past the tail and see how nice a calf I had. This win makes my week way better.”

Adding to the pleasure of the win for Morris was the fact that her brother, Chad Morris, finished as reserve champion.

“It feels awesome to win,” she said. “It feels even better to beat my brother. But, seriously we both worked really hard and we helped each other out along the way.”

Chad who was grand champion in the feeder steer show two years ago said he wouldn’t want to lose to anyone else.

“I’m happy for her,” he said. “I’d rather that I won, but if I had to lose, I’d rather lose to her than to a stranger.”