For the 10th straight year, Cuesta College students have qualified to compete in the 49th Annual SkillsUSA California State Leadership and Skill Conference, scheduled for March 31-April 3.

And they’ll be taking a basketball-sized roster to San Diego. Some 14 students have qualified for the State Championships, which will be followed by the National Championships set for June 20-24 in Louisville, Ky.

Only state gold medalists get to go to nationals and last year Cuesta had four with Grace Stokes placing first in the prepared speech competition.

“This year marks a decade that Cuesta College has been qualifying for SkillsUSA competitions, and every year we continue to prove that our programs, faculty and students are the best of the best,” said John Stokes, Cuesta’s engineering and technology division chair, who oversees the college’s SkillsUSA Team.

The Custa 14 participated in 11 different categories at the regional competition held Feb. 6 at Paso Robles High School. They went up against students from

The 14 qualifying Career Technical Education students participated in 11 different competitions at a regional Fresno, Kings, Kern, Tulare, San Benito, Santa Barbara, Monterey, Santa Cruz, and SLO counties.

The Cuesta College state qualifiers are: Gold medalists: Daniel DeGeorge, automotive refinishing; Nathan Defreest, carpentry; Scott Curry, collision repair; Noah Yoshida, culinary arts; Alex Godoy, electrical construction wiring; Daniel Cadwell, electronics technology ; Jon Hovdal, information technology services; team of Dan Cadwell, Zack Hymas, and Fernando Castillo, occupational safety and health; John Creedon, related technical math; and team of Joey Grant, Trevor Poindexter, and William Dexter, welding fabrication.

Silver medalists were Fernando Castillo, automotive technology, and Jose Limon, electrical construction wiring.