Clockwise from top left, Brandon Durrick, Dylan Berger, Madison Xander, Desiree Nester and Neilyn Acosta are among 16 students who won gold medals at the SkillsUSA District 11 Championships on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016.

Clockwise from top left, Gavin Mengel, Nick Baer, Kenny Pavlick, Miranda Gunkle and Cassidy Shupp won gold medals at the SkillsUSA District 11 Championships on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016.

ALLENTOWN, Pa. | Nearly 60 Lehigh Career & Technical Institute students notched Top 3 finishes Wednesday at the SkillsUSA District 11 Championships at the Agri-Plex.

The annual competition pitted LCTI students against their peers from Bethlehem Area Vocational-Technical School, Career Institute of Technology, Monroe Career & Technical Institute and Upper Bucks County Technical School in more than 50 contests of skill ranging from advertising design to welding.

LCTI students racked up 16 gold medals, 19 silver medals and 23 bronze medals. All of the event’s gold-medal winners earned a berth at this spring’s 2016 SkillsUSA Pennsylvania Leadership and Skill Championships in Hershey.

LCTI’s 16 gold-medal winners are:

• Advertising Design: Madison Xander, Catasauqua High School
• Architectural Drafting: Harrison Williams, Parkland High School
• Automotive Service Technology: Nicholas Atiyeh, William Allen High School
• Basic Health Care Skills: Desiree Nester, Salisbury High School
• CNC Milling: Ryan Kuntz, Lehigh Valley Christian High School
• CNC Technician: Gavin Mengel, Northwestern Lehigh
• CNC Turning: Alejandro Ramos, Southern Lehigh
• Commercial Baking: Daria Greb, Emmaus High School
• Early Childhood: Cassidy Shupp, Northwestern Lehigh
• Graphic Communications: Kenny Pavlick, Emmaus High School
• Nail Care: Neilyn Acosta, William Allen High School
• Nurse Assisting: Miranda Gunkle, Whitehall High School
• Power Equipment Technology: Dylan Berger, Northern Lehigh High School
• Precision Machining Technology: Kyle Tretter, Parkland High School
• Tech Computer Applications: Brandon Durrick, Emmaus High School
• Welding: Nick Baer, Northwestern Lehigh High School

Of the first-place finishers, three each are from Emmaus and Northwestern Lehigh, two each from Parkland and William Allen and one each are from Catasauqua, Lehigh Valley Christian, Northern Lehigh, Salisbury, Southern Lehigh and Whitehall.

Sponsored by local businesses, the championships are an opportunity for students from the region’s high schools to apply what they’ve learned in class to challenging scenarios that simulate demands of the 21st-century workplace. They also serve as means to expose the larger Lehigh Valley community to the value of career and technical education.

LCTI’s 19 silver-medal winners are:

• Automated Manufacturing Technology: Jacob Baia, Emmaus High School
• Automated Manufacturing Technology: Sean Farley, Parkland High School
• Automated Manufacturing Technology: Aaron Tweed, Parkland High School
• Basic Health Care Skills: Caitlynn Lucas, Northwestern Lehigh High School
• Cosmetology: Kasondra Pearson, Parkland High School
• Culinary Arts: Samuel Kennerly, Whitehall High School
• Diesel Equipment Technology: Dale Kern, Northern Lehigh High School
• First Aid/CPR: Alyssa Wygand, Salisbury High School
• Graphic Communications: Omar Gonzalez, William Allen High School
• Health Knowledge Bowl: Jade Buskirk, Parkland High School
• Health Knowledge Bowl: Gabrielle Cooper, Whitehall High School
• Health Knowledge Bowl: Carina Demelfy, Emmaus High School
• Health Knowledge Bowl: Kaylyn Lightcap, Salisbury High School
• Masonry: Abdelmenam Abodshesh, William Allen High School
• Medical Math: Bridgette Bolton, Emmaus High School
• Medical Terminology: Brittany Miller, Northwestern Lehigh High School
• Nurse Assisting: Kylee Sanchez, Northwestern Lehigh High School
• Precision Machining Technology: Evan Karpyn, Northwestern Lehigh High School
• Restaurant Service: Mckenzie Alvarez, Parkland High School

Of the second-place finishers, five are from Parkland, four are from Northwestern Lehigh, three are from Emmaus, two each are from Salisbury, Whitehall and William Allen and one is from Northern Lehigh.

LCTI’s 23 bronze-medal winners are:

• Automated Manufacturing Technology: Josh Schaffer, Emmaus High School
• Automated Manufacturing Technology: Matthew Rice, Parkland High School
• Automated Manufacturing Technology: Tanner Rice, Northern Lehigh High School
• Automotive Refinishing: Tyler Oswald, Whitehall High School
• Automotive Service Specialty: Patrick Williams, Parkland High School
• Automotive Service Technology: Ricardo Cruz, Parkland High School
• Cake Decorating: Andrew Everett, Parkland High School
• Carpentry: Nicholas Mcgaughran, Catasauqua High School
• CNC Milling: Jacob Bodony, William Allen High School
• CNC Technician: Spencer Werst, Parkland High School
• Commercial Baking: Benjamin Steitz, Whitehall High School
• Crime Scene Investigation (Team 1): Sunshine Polanco, William Allen High School
• Crime Scene Investigation (Team 1): Jenna Valentino, William Allen High School
• Crime Scene Investigation (Team 1): Hayley Werkheiser, Salisbury High School
• Criminal Justice: Colin Brown, Emmaus High School
• Diesel Equipment Technology: William Murphy, Southern Lehigh High School
• Electronics Technology: Cade Saugier, Emmaus High School
• Industrial Motor Control: Hunter Oberle, Northern Lehigh
• Power Equipment Technology: Matthew Moerder, Southern Lehigh High School
• Related Technical Math: Christian Kingsley, Catasauqua High School
• Tech Computer Applications: Andrew Santos-Angeles, William Allen High School
• Technical Drafting: Tyler Alexander, Emmaus High School
• Welding: Brandon Bergen, Northwestern Lehigh High School

Of the third-place finishers, five are from Parkland, four each are from Emmaus and William Allen, two each are from Catasauqua, Northern Lehigh, Southern Lehigh and Whitehall and one each are from Northwestern Lehigh and Salisbury.

Congratulations to all of the LCTI students who won gold, silver and bronze medals at the SkillsUSA District 11 Championships!

Read the complete news release.

Media Contact: Precious Petty, Public Relations Coordinator, 610-799-1450, pettyp@lcti.org