Utah  Valley University (UVU) was ranked as the top post-secondary institution in the nation at the SkillsUSA Championship after earning medals in 12 contest categories. Held in Atlanta each June, the SkillsUSA Championship includes 115 skilled trade and leadership contests for high school and post-secondary students. Over 6,500 state champions travel from across the United States to compete. Thirty UVU students qualified this spring to represent the state of Utah in 22 contest categories. They traveled to Atlanta on June 24 and spent the week competing against the champions from each state. On Friday evening, 19 UVU students took the podium, winning five gold medals, five silver medals, and two bronze medals. UVU’s remarkable performance surpassed that of any other post-secondary institution, with the closest competitor, Gwinnett Technical College of Lawrenceville, Georgia, earning eight medals. Notably, 41 states won fewer post-secondary medals than UVU did as a single institution, highlighting UVU’s dominance in the skilled trades.

UVU’s national champion gold medalists were:

• Logan Archibald and Trent Williams in Audio/Radio Production (Digital Media)
• Karen Wood in Baking & Pastry Arts (Culinary Arts)
• Ethan Jacobson in Cabinetmaking (Construction Technologies)
• Mason McLaughlin in Extemporaneous Speaking (Communication)
• Troy Catmull in Firefighting (Emergency Services)

The silver medal winners were:

• Kaleb Cheek, Anna Gloeckner, CJ King, and Nathan Martin in Entrepreneurship (Entrepreneurship Institute)
• Ethan Hallstrom in First Aid/CPR (Emergency Services)
• Paul Black and Jayden Wilkins in Interactive Application & Video Game Development (Digital Media)
• Kendall Maynard in Restaurant Service (Culinary Arts)
• Joshua Hernandez and William Olson in Robotics & Automation Technology  (Applied Engineering and Transportation Technology)

The bronze medal winners were:

• Ethan Moyes and Oscar Picciano in Mechatronics (Technology Management and Mechatronics)
• Jayden Fullmer in Technical Drafting (Architecture & Engineering Design)

The state of Utah also excelled, ranking #1 nationally for combined high school and post-secondary medals with a total of 48 medals (17 high school and 31 post-secondary). Out of the 203 competitors representing Utah, an impressive 166 placed in the top ten of their respective contests. UVU contributed significantly to this success, accounting for one-fourth of the state's total medals.

“UVU students and faculty represented us exceptionally well. When they get off the plane, you hear other states saying, ‘There’s who you need to beat. If you can beat UVU, you will find yourself on the medal podium,’” said Darin Taylor, UVU SkillsUSA director. “Our success at SkillsUSA continues to prove that UVU is one of the top universities in the nation.”

Learn more about SkillsUSA and the impressive achievements of UVU students on the SkillsUSA Championships page.