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Illinois Valley

Hennepin teen wins National Grand Champion title for third year

14-year-old McKlay Gensini takes top honors at National Junior Heifer Show in Kentucky

McKlay Gensini of Hennepin poses with her heifer, GDMN Miss Gigi ET, after winning the Grand Champion Maine-Anjou Female title at the National Junior Heifer Show in Louisville, Ky. It marks her third consecutive national championship.

McKlay Gensini of Hennepin poses with her heifer, GDMN Miss Gigi ET, after winning the Grand Champion Maine-Anjou Female title at the National Junior Heifer Show in Louisville, Ky. It marks her third consecutive national championship. (Photo Provided By Kerry Gensini )

By Bill Freskos

For the third year in a row, 14-year-old McKlay Gensini of Hennepin brought home the title from one of the nation’s premier livestock shows.

Gensini earned the title of Grand Champion Maine-Anjou Female at the National Junior Heifer Show, held in June in Louisville, Kentucky. The show saw 724 exhibitors and 850 head of cattle from over 30 states and Canada.

This year, her champion heifer, GDMN Miss Gigi ET, a purebred daughter of BNWZ Data Bank 1311C, was selected by judge Kyndal Reitzenstein. Gensini previously claimed top honors in 2024 with TJSC Miss Harmony 9L ET and in 2023 with CMCC Jump Start 1015J ET.

The daughter of Joe and Kerry Gensini, McKlay said her success comes from hard work and a passion for showing cattle.

Putnam County

Bill Freskos

Bill Freskos is a multimedia journalist based in the Illinois Valley. He covers hard news, local government, sports, business enterprise, and politics while contributing to Shaw Local Radio stations for Shaw Media across La Salle, Bureau, and Putnam counties.