Saline High School Seniors Are Michigan's Best Young Auto Techs

DEARBORN, Mich., April 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Andrew Michaluk and Ryan Hastings, both of Milan and students at Saline High School in Saline, took first place in the Michigan state final of the 17th 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 $53,000 in scholarship prizes and automotive merchandise for Michaluk and Hastings.   They will go to Dearborn, Mich. on June 15  to represent Michigan in the national Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills Competition.

In just  50 minutes and 15 seconds, the Saline High School team, coached by Tim Timoszyk, diagnosed and fixed nine electrical and mechanical "bugs" deliberately placed in a 2010 Mercury Milan by Ford engineers.  

Second-place honors in the competition were won by Joe Kucharek and Will Rochester, students at Gaylord High School in Gaylord.  

Tom Mersino and Chad Angeli, fellow classmates at Oxford High School in Oxford, won third-place honors in today's event.

The teams competing today earned their places in the state finals by outscoring other Michigan high school teams during an 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.

SOURCE AAA Michigan

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