Bethlehem Area Vocational-Technical School students won 11 gold medals Jan. 31 at the SkillsUSA District 11 Championships. BAVTS students also earned nine silver and 12 bronze medals for a grand total of 32 medals.

Held annually at the Agri-Plex Expo Center, the regional event pits BAVTS students against peers from Lehigh Career & Technical Institute, Career Institute of Technology, Monroe Career & Technical Institute and Upper Bucks County Technical School in more than 50 contests of skill ranging from automotive service technology to web design.

All of the gold-medal winners qualified to compete at the next level of competition. In most cases, that’s this spring’s SkillsUSA Pennsylvania Leadership and Skill Championships. The statewide event is scheduled for April 17-20 at Hershey Lodge and Conference Center.

After a long day of competition, the roughly 400 competitors headed to Parkland High School for an evening awards ceremony celebrating their accomplishments. This year, the SkillsUSA Council is partnering with postsecondary educational institutions to award more than $165,000 in scholarships to the medalists of 12 competitions.

BAVTS’ medal winners and scholarship recipients from Northampton Area High School are:

Third place, CNC technician — Kolton Mast, industrial design

Third place, CNC turning specialist — Dylan Lotti, industrial design

Third place, automotive service technology — Brian Herstine

First place, collision repair technology — Robert Smith, automotive collision repair

Third place, cosmetology — Sally Wallace, cosmetology-Layoun

Second place, crime scene investigation (team of three) — Amy Swierczek and Benjamin Murdock, protective services

First place, electronics technology — Sam Costenbader, electronics technology

First place, firefighting demonstration — Austin Kern, protective services

Second place, firefighting demonstration — Jordan Krische, protective services

First place, industrial motor control — Christian Stezelberger, electrical construction

Second place, job skill demo A — Kyle Clark, culinary-Chavez

First place, job skill open — Gabrielle Kowalchuk, building trades

Second place, masonry — Dylan Piechota, masonry

Second place, nurse assisting — Megan Giangiulio, health careers-Stilg.

Third place, web design (team of two) — Nathaniel Marx, web design