Three Okanagan College students are on their way to Moncton, NB to compete in the Skills Canada National competition following their gold medal wins at the provincial competition, which was held in Abbotsford on April 13.

The three gold medalists were joined on the podium by an additional eight students who earned four silver and four bronze medals for the college in categories that ranged from aerospace technology and carpentry to culinary arts.

Okanagan College was the best in B.C. in the areas of Electronics, Aerospace Technology and Automotive Service.

Second-year student Zachary Andrews won gold in the Electronics category. Spencer Humphries, a first-year student in the Aircraft Maintenance Engineering M License program, won in Aerospace Technology and Aaron Schmidt, a level 4 apprentice, led the College to gold in Automotive Service. He was one of three Okanagan College apprentices who finished in the top three in the province 鈥� OC swept the automotive category.

Automotive service instructor Jamie Bloomfield said he was extremely proud of the efforts of his students, who he referred to as the dream team.

鈥淓ach one of our students took the competition preparation and practices very seriously,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey had great attitudes and were very motivated. During the competition they shook the nerves off quickly and performed beautifully 鈥� I couldn鈥檛 be prouder.鈥�

By the end of the competition, Okanagan College had captured 11 medals. Other institutions that took part included Vancouver Island University, BCIT, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Camosun College, North Island College, Northern Lights College, University of the Fraser Valley, Thompson Rivers University and Vancouver Community College.

Okanagan College students placed as follows:

Gold鈥╖achary Andrews 鈥� Electronics鈥⊿pencer Humphries 鈥� Aerospace Technology

Aaron Schmidt 鈥� Automotive Service

Silver鈥―ale Blumhagen 鈥� Automotive Service 鈥–urtis Koepke 鈥� Refrigeration鈥⊿arah Maw 鈥� Culinary Arts

Lukas Pfob 鈥� Carpentry

Bronze鈥℉ugo Beaumier-Martin 鈥� Automotive Service 鈥ˋndrew Kennedy 鈥� Aerospace Technology 鈥≧av Matharoo 鈥� Heavy Equipment Service

Rudi Verlinden 鈥� IT 鈥� Network Systems Administration

All of the above-mentioned students are from 琉璃神社 except for the following: 鈥–urtis Koepke, West 琉璃神社, (attended Okanagan College in Penticton);鈥� Hugo Beaumier-Martin, Penticton (attended Okanagan College in 琉璃神社);鈥� Rav Matharoo, Penticton (attended Okanagan College in 琉璃神社) and Rudi Verlinden, Vernon (attended Okanagan College in 琉璃神社)

The National Skills Canada competition attracts more than 500 competitors who compete in 40 contest areas, each vying for a chance at a coveted gold medal. The program was launched in 1994, and is the only national multi-trade and technology competition for young students and apprentices in the country.