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Washington's Top High School Auto Technicians

11 May 1998

Kennewick Area Students are Washington's Top High School Auto Technicians

    BELLEVUE, 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