Three Wicomico Students Finish Tops In State SkillsUSA, Will Head To Nationals

Wicomico County SkillsUSA students made an outstanding showing at last weekend’s Maryland SkillsUSA Championship, sending three students on to the national competition and placing 15 students in the top 3 of a number of skill contests.

Wicomico was represented by 45 students who had already won on the local and regional levels to compete in 25 different Leadership and Technical-area events. It was a long day for students as they faced the best competitors in the state, but they prevailed. “It was a very successful weekend for SkillsUSA students from Wicomico County and Wicomico County Public Schools,” said Jim Maynard, SkillsUSA advisor.

First-place finishers earned the right to proceed to the National Leadership and Skills Conference in Kansas City this June, along with their instructors. Wicomico’s first-place winners were:

Matt Duncan, Wicomico High, Electronics Technology
Derreck Frantum, Parkside High, Carpentry
Mike Levdansky, James M. Bennett High, Welding

Also finishing in the top 3 from Wicomico were:

Edward Mitchell, Parkside, Precision Machining, 2nd
Adam Chance, Parkside, Precision Machining, 3rd
Muriel Beteck, Wicomico, First Aid/CPR, 2nd
Caitlyn Insley, Mardela (contestant) and Katie Thomsen, Parkside (model), 2nd
Alyssa Smith, Wicomico (contestant) and Aujila Simmons, Parkside (model), 3rd
Daniel Swain, Parkside, Masonry, 3rd
William Habas, Mardela, Welding, 3rd
Matt Layfield and Chad Payne, Parkside, and Tyler Wheatley, Mardela, Welding Fabrication 3-Man Team, 2nd

Maryland had more than 1,180 students competing in 91 different events this year. It was the largest conference that Maryland SkillsUSA has ever had.