19 UVU students win medals in national competition, earn top ranking for the school

SALT LAKE CITY ( ABC4 ) — At a national contest where students demonstrated their prowess in skilled trade and leadership, Utah students took home several top honors — with students from Utah Valley University taking home 19 of Utah’s 48 total medals.

Thirty students from UVU traveled to Atlanta, Georgia, for the national 2024 SkillsUSA Championship , and represented the university and the state of Utah in 22 different categories. Of the 30 UVU students, 19 earned a gold, silver, or bronze medal in their competitions.

The competition itself was between more than 6,500 high school and post-secondary students who were state champions from across the United States.

“UVU’s remarkable performance surpassed all other post-secondary institutions, with the closest competitor, Gwinnett Technical College of Lawrenceville, Georgia, earning eight medals,” a press release from the university said.

The national gold medalists from UVU are as follows:

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

The national silver medalists from UVU are as follows:

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

The national bronze medalists from UVU are as follows:

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

“Notably, 41 states won fewer post-secondary medals than UVU did as a single institution, highlighting UVU’s dominance in the skilled trades,” the university said.

As a whole, the state of Utah took the number one spot nationally, with high school and post-secondary competitors earning a combined 48 medals — with 17 medals won by high school competitors and 31 medals won by post-secondary competitors.

“Our success at SkillsUSA continues to prove that UVU is one of the top universities in the nation,” UVU SkillsUSA Director Darin Taylor said.

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