Santana High Student Wins Gold at SkillsUSA California State Conference

 placed first at the SkillsUSA California State Conference for the second year.

Sophomore Kyle Holmquist earned a gold medal and Brandon Killian, another Santana sophomore, earned a bronze medal at the competition in Mission Valley last weekend. 

“It felt great,” Kyle Holmquist said. “I wasn’t sure if I was going to win or not, but it felt great when they called my name up there.”

Kyle Holmquist, his twin brother, Trevor Holmquist, and Killian competed in the technical drafting category. The Santee students had four hours to work on the contest prompt.

Kyle Holmquist explained he was given a part that had basic dimensions on it and was required to create the part using 3-D CAD software. He also had to apply notes to his drawings.

“I actually didn’t finish it all—it was that hard,” he said. “They had to cut me off on time.”

Although he wished he had a bit more time, Kyle Holmquist still came out on top.

It was his first time competing at the state conference. He and his brother competed in the regional conference last year, but they did not go on to the state competition.

“We had a little taste last year of what it was like, so this year we came back and actually won,” he said.

“It was fun,” Kyle Holmquist said. “They had a lot of activities for us to do in between taking the tests. It was very challenging though, and I enjoyed it all.”

SkillsUSA is a national nonprofit organization that promotes vocational skills for high school and community college students. 

Trevor Holmquist, who plans to compete again next year, said he enjoyed his experience at the conference.

“They were all for leadership and striving for your best and preparing you for the job field,” he said.

All three students are a part of the SkillsUSA Club at Santana.

Kyle Holmquist said their drafting and engineering instructor, Luke Fitzgerald, encouraged them to compete. He added that he became interested in drafting and engineering after taking Fitzgerald’s introduction to engineering design class last year.

In addition to gold and bronze medals, Kyle Holmquist and Killian received drafting software valued at $3,000. 

Kyle Holmquist, who also plans to compete again next year, will compete in the 47th annual SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference in Kansas City June 19-24.

“SkillsUSA is a great organization for anyone,” Kyle Holmquist said.