Automotive students excel in state competition

MOSES LAKE - Moses Lake High School students Pat Doremus and Tucker Reiley returned from a state Student Auto Skills competition with two trophies.

Doremus, 18, and Reiley, 17, tested their skills April 26 against nine other teams in a competition sponsored by Ford Motor Co. and the American Automobile Association (AAA). They received third place in the hands-on portion of the competition and first place in the two-man highest written score.

For their accomplishment, the students went home with roughly $8,000 each in scholarships to various institutions, clothing, tools, a one-year AAA membership and tickets to a signing session with John Force Racing.

"I'm pretty proud of these guys, because when we got over there, these guys were right on target," automotive instructor Mark Yosting, who trains the students at Big Bend Community College told the Columbia Basin Herald Wednesday. "There was no messing around. They knew what they wanted. They wanted to win this contest."

Each team was given a car with 10 bugs, and the teams had to figure out how to fix the problems. They were also judged on workmanship.

"Their judge said that their workmanship was excellent, that they were very precise and did fantastic jobs. They got no workmanship demerits," Yosting said. "The only demerits they got was for the couple of bugs that they didn't find."

To qualify for the hands-on competition, students took a written test and scored among the top 10 in the state.

Moses Lake's students had some extra special help preparing for the competition, as Discovery Ford shop foreman John Roman helped bug a vehicle for students to practice on, a vehicle loaned by the company.

"I figured they went over the basics in school, so basically I hammered them on getting the engine running right," Roman said.

Roman himself excelled in a similar competition, becoming national champion in 2004 of the Ford Ultimate Master Technician Challenge.

Doremus said the most difficult part of the competition was keeping calm. For Reiley, the biggest challenge was staying focused.

Reiley had another challenge - a broken collar bone - sustained while Doremus and Reiley were wrestling.

"And he had surgery Friday before the competition," Yosting said. "He went over there in a sling and he did all the repairs one handed."

In all, the students found seven out of 10 bugs in the 1.5-hour time frame.

After high school, the students both plan to go to the Ford Automotive Student Service Educational Training Program, which they received scholarships for.

"You earn while you learn," Doremus said.

The students said the program has the two top instructors and is the number two facility in the United States.