DEARBORN, Mich., April 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Alex Dobroy of Clinton and Zachary Hastings of Milan, seniors at Saline High School, took first place in the Michigan state final of the 14th annual Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills Competition, held today at the Macomb Community College Expo Center in Warren. The victory over nine other two-person teams from Michigan high schools means more than $45,000 in scholarship prizes and automotive merchandise for Dobroy and Hastings. They will also go to Dearborn, Mich. June 26 to represent Michigan in the national Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills Competition.
In just 49 minutes 50 seconds, the Saline team, coached by Tim Timoszyk, diagnosed and fixed nine electrical and mechanical "bugs" deliberately placed in a 2007 Mercury Grand Marquis by Ford engineers.
Runners-up in the competition were the team of Joshua Hoekstra and Jeremy Winget, seniors at Kent Career Technical Center.
This marked the first year a female was among the qualifying participants in the Michigan competition's history. Katy Younglove, a senior at Monroe High School, and fellow senior Craig Suydam placed third in today's event.
The teams competing today earned their places in the state finals by outscoring other Michigan high school teams at a first-ever Internet based exam in February. The online format emulated professional technical certification and training programs used by automotive manufacturers.
Ford Motor Co. and AAA sponsor the annual Student Auto Skills Competition as part of their ongoing effort to encourage talented high school students to pursue careers as automotive technicians. Each year, the competition draws more than 6,000 high school students in the 50 states, and more than $5 million in scholarships and other prizes are awarded.
While the high school teams were competing in the student event, five experienced, professional technicians from Ford dealerships were competing in the Ultimate Master Technician Challenge in another part of the Expo Center.
Donald Benjamin, a technician at North Coast LincolnMercury in Willoughby, Ohio won the $3,000 first prize.
Chris Scali, a technician with LibertyFord, Inc. in Maple Heights, Ohio, was runner-up, earning a $2,000 cash prize.
Third place and $1,500 went to Charles Rooker, a technician with Ed Mulinax Ford in Amherst, Ohio.
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