Going for the gold

By Daniel Johnson, Investigative Reporter

SkillsUSA winners head for nationals

The CNM chapter of SkillsUSA will send 19 students on to the national SkillsUSA competition this summer, Alain Archuleta, State Coordinator for SkillsUSA and part-time Electrical instructor, said.

The 19 students earned theirs spots in the nationals, which will be held in Kansas City, Mo. from June 24 to 28, by placing first in the state championship held April 4 through 6, he said.

CNM students took 19 gold medals, 19 silver medals and 15 bronze medals for a total of 53 medals during the state championships.

“The students that par­ticipated and represented their respective trades were awesome, but if they thought they were in a pressure cooker while compet­ing at state, wait until they are on that national stage represent­ing New Mexico instead of just CNM,” Archuleta said.

Lesia Luviano, Welding major, won the gold medal in Welding Sculpture and said the competi­tion was not bad because it was her second year competing.

She plans to work on details and gain as much knowledge as possible before the national com­petition, she said.

“Getting to test your skill at this competition is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and more of the student body should sign up to compete next year,” Luviano said.

Erin Mulligan, Transportation Technology major, won the silver medal for Extemporaneous Speaking, and said the compe­tition was great because he felt little pressure and even without the gold he is still very proud and excited to have competed.

“You never want to under ]esti­mate your competition and always make sure you keep yourself in check by practicing,” he said.

Breanna Riley, a Culinary Arts major who won the silver medal for Commercial Baking, said practicing and working hard on what judges considered com­petitors’ mistakes is going to be the key to placing at Nationals.

Going to the national com­petition will be a challenge for all the competitors, but having the experience of the state competition under their belts will allow them to know what has to be improved for the national level, she said.

“I am so grateful for this opportunity, but I wish more students would participate because we could always send more people to represent New Mexico while being proud CNM students,” she said.

Archuleta said SkillsUSA is a wonderful organization in which students are allowed to receive education and training while taking responsibility for what they get out of it.

Win or lose, this experi­ence will allow students a better opportunity to take what life throws at them, he said.

All the students participat­ing are willing to go above and beyond the call of duty for this organization, he said

“I would love to see all partici­pants medal, but they are all top guns in my book, no matter how they place at nationals. They may not realize it, but they all have golden hearts already and the doors of opportunity have opened wide for all of them,” Archuleta said.

2013 CNM SkillsUSA State Medalist

 BIT-Business Information Technologies

Breanna Riley Baking-BIT 2nd

Kiyoko Masuoka Culinary-BIT 2nd

Tammy Hadley Customer Service 2nd

Rozlyn Griego Customer Service 3rd

AT-Applied Technologies

John Pierson ARDR 1st

Jarrod Watson ARDR 2nd

Patrick Podeyn ARDR 3rd

Alexxandria Snell Aviation 1st

Emilo Verastegui Aviation 2nd

Marshall Ruff Aviation 3rd

Edgar Coyle Cabinet Making 1st

Levi Barnes Cabinet Making 2nd

Gabriel Raab-faber Job Skill Demo Open 1st

Abran Salazar Carpentry 3rd

Rene Reyes Computer Maintenance Tech 1st

Thomas Balch Computer Maintenance Tech 2nd

Sheldon Blackhorse Computer Maintenance Tech 3rd

Kris Haverstick Diesel Equipment Technology 2nd

Michael Mortimer Electronics Technology 1st

Michael Gregory Electronics Technology 2nd

Duggan Matson Electronics Technology 3rd

Jason Stanley HVAC/ACHR 1st

Christopher Luu HVAC/ACHR 3rd

Patrick Sanchez Industrial Motor Control 1st

Daniel Roper Industrial Motor Control 2nd

Debby Oscar Industrial Motor Control 3rd

Christopher Lucero Plumbing 1st

Michael Sandoval Plumbing 2nd

Brandon Miller Plumbing 3rd

David Silva Power Equipment 1st

Alexander Weaver Precision Maching 1st

Natan Kollarik Precision Maching 2nd

John Lamar Precision Maching 3rd

Mark Nolan Related Technical Math 2nd

Benjamin Chaves Residential Wiring 1st

Anna McCall Residential Wiring 2nd

Juan Gabaldon Residential Wiring 3rd

Allen Arrrellano Welding 1st

Jimmy Chavez Welding Fabriation Team 1st

Ryan Jim 1st

Adam Avenetti 1st

Lesia Luviano Welding Sculptures 1st

Aaron Emillio Welding Sculptures 2nd

Leadership Events

Solomon Hill-Burke Extemporaneous Speaking 1st

Erin Mulligan Extemporaneous Speaking 2nd

Anna McCall Prepared Speech 3rd

Kimberly Hayden Job Interview 1st

John Abeyta Job Interview 3rd

Kyle Bacoccini Job Skill Demo A 3rd

Kimberly Warner Job Skill Demo Open 2nd

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