Wallace State Community College in Hanceville, Alabama took home the silver medal in the 52nd annual SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference. This is the second year Wallace State has taken part in the Crime Scene Investigation event at the national competition held in Louisville, Kentucky in June.
The CSI winning team was comprised of students Micah Oliver, Melissa Kilpatrick and Anthony Martin. The team took home the gold at the state level in May before qualifying for the nationals. The crime scene theme used in this year’s competition was domestic disturbance. Students were required to follow crime scene investigation protocol in collecting evidence and processing the crime scene mockup as part of the competition. The team had 45 minutes to investigate and process the crime scene.
Kilpatrick was thrilled to be part of the winning team. “It was such a great and satisfying feeling when I heard our names mentioned as one of the best,” she said.
Wallace State had concocted a double homicide scene in last year’s national competition where they earned a ninth place finish. This year the team spent even more time preparing, adding four to five hours of practice to their studies each week since October. Kilpatrick noted that participating in last year’s competition allowed them to prepare accordingly and know what to expect this time around. She also thanked the Wallace State President for allowing the team to use the campus to set up practice crime scenes. The improvements paid off with a second place, silver-medal finish this year.
SkillsUSA is a nonprofit agency that allows students training in service, technical and trade careers to show off their skills in an annual competition. Contests begin at a local level and rise to a state and national level where the best of the best compete in each skillset.