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April 12

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
CONTACT:
Emma Stokely
Public and Media Relations Manager
531-MCC-2726, office
estokely@mccneb.edu
 
 
MCC students shine at SkillsUSA Nebraska, 20 qualify for national competition in Atlanta
 
OMAHA, Neb. (April 12, 2022) — Metropolitan Community College (MCC) students had a strong showing at the SkillsUSA Nebraska Championships that wrapped up in Grand Island on Sunday. In total, 24 MCC students medaled in their respective competitions, with 20 qualifying to compete at SkillsUSA Championships in Atlanta, June 22-23. The event features more than 6,500 of the top career and technical education students across the nation who will compete in more than 100 timed and judged competitions.
In total, more than 75 MCC students participated in the SkillsUSA Nebraska Championships, with nearly one-third medaling in contests that ranged from architecture and construction, audio/video technology, business management, health sciences, manufacturing, STEM, transportation, welding and much more.

“We are thrilled but not surprised by the performance of our students at the SkillsUSA Nebraska Championships,” said Zach Pechacek, MCC electrical instructor and SkillsUSA coordinator. “Our students take great pride in their work every day, so it was nice to see their effort recognized and for them to have a rewarding experience and have the opportunity to go on to represent Metropolitan Community College at the national competition in June.”

At the Nebraska event, competitions took place among high school and post-secondary students. In total, MCC students won 15 gold medals. Gold and silver medalists qualified for the championship event. MCC students medaled in the following events:

Automotive Service Technology (post-secondary)
Gold: Zane Bender
 
Automotive Refinishing Technology (high school)
Gold: James Frazier
Bronze: Ethan Shaner
 
Automotive Refinishing Technology (post-secondary)
Bronze: John Cherry
 
Collision Damage Appraisal (high school)
Gold: Tyler Kramar
 
Collision Damage Appraisal (post-secondary)
Gold: Jakob Shiner
Silver: Connor Stotts
Bronze: Alejandro Castro
 
Collision Repair Technology (high school)
Gold: Kaden Backstrom
Silver: Zachary Prewitt
 
Electrical Construction Wiring (high school)
Gold: Cooper Cook
 
Electrical Construction Wiring (post-secondary)
Silver: Sam Lichti
 
Welding Fabrication (high school)
Gold: Ethan Bothwell, Ty Coshow and Jack Doyle
 
Welding Fabrication (post-secondary)
Gold: Landon Barrett, Cody Fosmire and Brandon Ramos
 
Audio/Radio Production (high school)
Gold: Ryan Buchannon and Connor Robb
 
Digital Cinema Production (post-secondary)
Gold: Caitlin Chandler and McKinley Matlock
 
Photography (post-secondary)
Gold: Alayna Kustka
 
TV/Video Production (post-secondary)
Gold: Emily Balkovic and Joe Hass
 
Fire Fighting (high school)
Gold: Caleb Jashinske
Silver: Jacob Rupp
Bronze: Maxwell Tkaczuk
 
Fire Fighting (post-secondary)
Gold: Mason Ingram
Silver: Mason Quesenberry
 
Technical Team Problem Solving (state only)
Gold: Anthony Babbott, Zane Bender, Brian Ibarra-Ortiz, Andrew Nguyen and Wayne Price
Silver: Jacob Rupp
 
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About Metropolitan Community College
Metropolitan Community College, accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, is a comprehensive, public community college that offers affordable, quality education to all residents of Dodge, Douglas, Sarpy and Washington counties. Founded in 1974, MCC has the largest enrollment out of six community colleges in Nebraska and is the second largest postsecondary institution in the state. MCC serves more than 40,000 unique credit and noncredit students.

About SkillsUSA
SkillsUSA empowers its members to become world-class workers, leaders and responsible American citizens. The organization improves the quality of our nation’s skilled workforce through the development of Framework skills that include personal, workplace and technical skills grounded in academics. SkillsUSA serves more than 335,000 students and instructors annually. This includes 19,500 instructors who join as professional members. Including alumni, SkillsUSA membership totals nearly 400,000.