With the 2024 SkillsUSA Regionals competition coming to a close, results have been revealed for the next batch of State Competitors. This competition divides California into 6 reg
ions, Inspire being in Region 4, containing different groups of counties all competing in different CTE skills including Design, Computer Programing, Engineering and many many others.
As for Inspire students, they competed in Digital Cinema Production, Photography, TV Video production, and Pin Design. Each team within the SkillsUSA club at Inspire had from December 15th to January 17th to prepare and to craft their submission for the Regionals competition, ranging from a 5 minute short film to a batch of 6 unique and creative photos.
It wouldn’t be until February 14th when each team of two would find out whether they were moving on to the next stage of the competition or be taken as actors/models instead.
While each team anxiously waited to see their ranking, it would turn out that this year would be the best year for Inspire SkillsUSA out of any year that they have competed! A total of 9 winning students will be advancing to the States Competition in Ontario, California in April.
Zander Renzi (12) and Yamil Nassif-Sanchez (12) took home first place in the region for Digital Cinema Production, followed by Andres
Coronel (12) and Solomon Perillo (12) who won second place in the same competition. Quinn Anderson (12) and Lucas Fankhauser (12) get O surprising first place in the TV Video Production competition. Included in the victories were Morgen Reiser (10) with a first place in Digital Photography, followed by Zeno Beutenmueller (12), winning 4th place in that competition. And of course, let’s not forget about Sorrin Blevins (11), obtaining 1st place in the pin design competition!
It’s clear that each one of these highly skilled students are beyond excited to be representing Inspire so heavily at the States competition this year, where they have a chance to advance further to Nationals in the summer.
Zander Renzi, senior and first place winner, was eager to share his thoughts.
“I was ecstatic to find out that I get to go to States this year, let alone win first place. But this year, knowing what I’m getting into with states makes it all the more suspenseful, with the stakes being higher as it’s my last year at Inspire.”
Suspenseful is the right word to use here, as returning SkillsUSA contestants are aware of the challenges they have to face. This yearly trip, made up of 4 days, consists of mostly conferences with one to two days for completing their submission. Typically, most competitors resort to pulling all-nighters in order to reach the finish line in time, surviving off of Yerba Mate and In-N-Out ice cream.
Morgen Reiser, sophomore and first place winner, will be returning to Skills this year, ready to take on the challenge.
“Winning 1st was unexpected but obviously I was ecstatic and now I’m really looking forward to a good time at states. A worry I have is not knowing what to expect until we get there, so there is no way to really prepare.”
For competitions like this, it is in fact hard to prepare for the challenge ahead, as competitors do not receive their prompts until the night of their arrival at Ontario. The best you can do is go into the competition with an open mind, ready for anything and everything, and prepared to give it their all. As Wyatt Hervey, Inspire Alumni and a SkillsUSA regular, once said. “Don’t think about the prompt or your idea until you GET the prompt. That’ll mess you up.”
Best of luck to these contestants representing Inspire at SkillsUSA for the 7th year in a row. Hopefully one of these students can take home the gold once again and most importantly show off each one of their abilities.