Caston grad Sommers completes busy summer, 10th year in 4-H

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Max Sommers

Max Sommers spent one more Fulton County 4-H Fair with his animals at the Swine Show last week.

He is a 2025 Caston High School grad, and he finished his 10th year in 4-H at the fair.

He reflected on the relationships he has built with the pigs he has raised while also reflecting on the time commitment to being a three-sport athlete at Caston with his work in the barn.

He said that when he was younger, he got more emotional. 

And this year with it being his 4-H finale, some of those emotions came back.

“It’s something that’s pretty easy compared to cattle or sheep,” Sommers said. “There’s not as much time into it necessarily. It’s walking them and the effort that’s needed for it, but the relationship you have with the pigs, it’s amazing. I definitely when I was really young, I got very invested in the pigs. I had a great relationship, and I know days like today with the sale, it was hard for me. And actually today was hard for me just because it was my 10th year. Last time in the ring, it was hard. It’s nice to have that relationship with the animal and be able to show.”

Sommers said it takes experience to learn what impresses the judges.

“Some people, it can take a couple times listening to the judge and showing, and some people, it can take four or five years for them to get the hang of showmanship and doing what the judge was. It depends on the personal experience that they have.”

Sommers got involved in 4-H through his parents.

“So my dad, he’s been involved in 4-H,” Sommers said. “So has my mom. They both were around animals. Actually, my dad has been raising show pigs for basically my entire life. So I actually started showing pigs when I was about 4 years old. … And honestly, I’ve been in love with it, and I’ve been doing it ever since. I’ve never stopped. Every single summer it’s been pigs. … I had sheep my first eight years of 4-H. The last two, I’ve just stuck with pigs. … We’ve got crossbreds, Yorks, Durocs, Hamps… We’ve got a bunch of different breeds.”

And in addition to 4-H, there were the sports he played at Caston. His grandfather Dave was the long-time cross-country head coach – he is now a volunteer assistant on coach Blair Zimmerman’s staff – and that was his entry into that sport in the fall. It started when he was a sixth-grader.

In the winter, he played basketball.

And then in the spring, he was the No. 1 golfer on Jeremy Rentschler’s boys golf team where he earned honorable mention status at the Hoosier North tournament.

He said he did not start playing much golf until he was a sophomore, but he said he lives just about a five-minute drive from Pond View Golf Course in Star City, which is Caston’s home course.

“Actually, it was mainly because of my great-grandma Madilyn,” Sommers said. “She got me into golf when I was real young. And I just learned how to play with her. I didn’t play a whole lot. It was just a couple times a summer I’d go out with her and just enjoy it. But then I took a break from it in junior high and into high school and then my sophomore summer, I got really into it, and I just about started playing about every day, and I was like, I might as well just play on the golf team. That’s what my grandma would want, so I might as well just play. And I enjoyed it. I loved it.”

He said the toughest month to juggle 4-H and sports is June. Sommers is spending a lot of time in the barn preparing his animals for the fair. Meanwhile, June is the biggest month of the basketball offseason with summer competition and conditioning.

“Especially when I was in basketball, it took a lot of determination,” Sommers said. “In the month of June, it takes a lot of time and effort. And so does 4-H. 4-H for me, especially this year, I was out in the barn for three hours every night working with animals. Just being able to balance my time and still being able to go to sporting events along with going to shows, it was a big commitment to everything at once. Yeah, it’s tough.”

With sports and 4-H, there was not much time for other extracurriculars.

“That was my life for the past 10 years,” Sommers said. “Sports even longer.”

Sommers will attend Purdue University in the fall. He said he will major in Ag Business.

“I’m not really sure where that’s going to take me quite yet, but I am excited. Next chapter, I guess.”