The Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors — National Association (PHCC) Educational Foundation recently announced the six plumbing students who received top honors in the plumbing competition during the annual SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference, held June 22-23 in Atlanta.

The PHCC Educational Foundation partners with SkillsUSA to sponsor the plumbing contest each year. The foundation also supports the HVACR contest. The SkillsUSA Championships is the nation’s largest hands-on workforce development event for middle school, high school and college/post-secondary students enrolled in career and technical education programs.

The SkillsUSA Championships occupy 1.79 million sq. ft. (31 football fields or 41 acres) of floor space. More than 6,000 students competed in 110 contests.

The American Supply Association is a sponsor of this exciting contest. "While it has become a core goal of ASA to attract top talent to our members, it’s important that we support the great efforts such as the plumbing skills contest in attracting and training the technicians that install our products," ASA CEO Mike Adelizzi said. "These plumbing and HVACR apprentices got to the national event by winning local contest — they all are winners and we congratulate each contestant"

The Plumbing contest winners are:

1st Place Secondary – Shadrach Roundy, Davis Technical College, Kaysville, Utah

1st Place Post-Secondary – Christopher Hayes, Pinellas Technical College, St. Petersburg, Fla.

2nd Place Secondary – Nicholas Gerasimov, Shawsheen Valley Technical High School, Billerica, Mass.

2nd Place Post-Secondary – Brent Offenberger, Rowan Cabarrus Community College, Salisbury, N.C.

3rd Place Secondary – Benjamin Tuck, Putnam Career & Technical Center, Eleanor, W. Va.

3rd Place Post-Secondary – Chris Martinez, Texas State Technical College – West, Brownwood, Texas

"The PHCC Educational Foundation is dedicated to improving the industry by helping students in the plumbing, heating and cooling fields reach their full potential," PHCC Educational Foundation CLO Angela Collins said. "The SkillsUSA Championships competitions are an outstanding example of the professionalism that results when industry is joined with education."