Seniors John Taylor and Scott Van Wagner did an excellent job of representing Oxford High School last week by finishing second in the 16th Annual Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills Competition held at the Macomb Community College Expo Center in Warren.
‘I am so proud,? said Auto Tech teacher Dan Balsley. ‘These guys did everything I had hoped for and more than I expected. I’m very, very pleased with their performance.?
In just 57 minutes 50 seconds, Taylor and Van Wagner diagnosed and fixed seven electrical and mechanical ‘bugs? (i.e. malfunctions) deliberately placed in a 2009 Ford Focus.
‘There was less pressure than I expected,? Taylor said. ‘The hardest part was final judging.?
‘Standing around watching the judges go through the car, panicking over whether we did everything ? that was tough,? Van Wagner added.
Oxford’s time was actually 5 minutes 5 seconds faster than the first place team from Monroe High School.
‘They were the first ones with the hood down and they had a clean car,? Balsley said. ‘Normally, they would have gotten first place.?
However, Taylor and Van Wagner didn’t take home the gold because they, along with seven other teams, didn’t answer some questions at the bottom of the repair order.
‘They didn’t even know they were there,? said Balsley, noting this was the first year such questions were included in the competition.
Even though they should have received first place based on their swift time and thorough repairs, Van Wagner and Taylor were still pleased with their overall showing.
‘I feel awesome,? Van Wagner said. ‘We went in hard and finished hard and got done first. That one mistake set us back a little bit, but we’re still happy with what we got.?
And what they got was a total of $33,000 in scholarship offers from Ohio Technical College, University of Northwestern Ohio, Baran Institute of Technology, Lincoln College of Technology, Nashville Auto Diesel College and Universal Technical Institute, Inc.
Before they decide which one to accept, the boys plan to research and visit the schools to see which one is the best fit for them.
During the competition, Van Wagner and Taylor got some extra help from the audience where 33 of their fellow auto students were cheering them on.
‘They filled up the stands,? Balsley said. ‘There was just a little room on either side.?
Balsley indicated his students exhibited some ‘really classy? behavior because not only did they root for Oxford, they also cheered whenever one of the competing teams finished fixing their car.
‘They represented us very well,? he said.