Washington's Top High School Auto Technicians
11 May 1998
Kennewick Area Students are Washington's Top High School Auto TechniciansBELLEVUE, Wash., May 8 -- Michael Hubbard and Dave Carlson weren't about to let a few "bugs" stand in the way of a trip to Washington, D.C. and a chance for thousands of dollars in scholarships. The two students from Tri Tech Skills Center, Kennewick, took first place in the fifth annual Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills contest state finals today at Renton Technical College. Richard Ousse is the team's instructor. Hubbard and Carlson successfully identified and fixed their deliberately "bugged" 1998 Ford Taurus and drove it across the finish line to beat out nine other student auto technician teams from across the state. The pair fixed all problems placed by judges in just over 37 minutes. The two also earned their school's auto technician program a 1998 training vehicle from Ford. Second place went to the team of James Harper and David Thurlow of Battle Ground High School; instructor is Kurt Sitton. Third place honors went to Douglas Baldwin and Phillip Thomas, North Thurston High School (Lacey); instructor is Brian Stretch. The team from North Thurston High School also had the highest combined score on the written testing in February, earning the school a new Ford training vehicle for the student auto technician program. State winners, Carlson and Hubbard, earned a choice of scholarships, including a $3000 scholarship to the Ford ASSET program at Renton Technical College and other prizes. In June, they will travel to Washington, D.C. to compete for the national Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills championship. "The students from Tri Tech Skills Center showed they have the skills needed to service today's sophisticated vehicles," said John Milbrath, director of Automotive Services for AAA Washington, the local AAA affiliate. "They will be excellent representatives for Washington at the national competition." Ford and AAA Washington are sponsors of the Washington state Student Auto Skills contest. NOTE: See the following complete listing of competitors, schools and final placings in the 1998 Washington state competition.)1998 Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills Competition. Washington State Final placings: 1st Place: Tri Tech Skills Center, Kennewick Michael Hubbard and David Carlson Richard Ousse, Instructor 2nd Place: Battle Ground High School, Battle Ground David Thurlow and James Harper Kurt Sitton, Instructor 3rd Place: North Thurston High School, Lacey Phillip Thomas and Douglas Baldwin Brian Stretch, Instructor 4th Place: Kentridge High School, Kent Jason Deschambault and Daniel Huffman Roy Voelker, Instructor 5th Place: Timberline High School, Lacey John Cooley and Brandan Bates David Livesay, Instructor 6th Place: Richland High School, Richland Chavis House and Sean Totten Dale Hill, Instructor 7th Place: Clark County Skills Center, Vancouver Colby Seibold and Jacob Kanooth Kirk VanGelder, Instructor 8th Place: Clark County Skills Center, Vancouver Nathan Force and Christopher Warren Jim Neiman, Instructor 9th Place: Lake Roosevelt High School, Coulee Dam Nelson Ford and Zeb Horton Steven Hood, Instructor 10th Place: R.A. Long High School, Longview Chris Blair and Ryan Larsen Randy Bailey, Instructor SOURCE AAA Washington