End of the Year Update

Hello Friends!

As 2010 comes to a close my mind drifts memories from the last year, and looks ahead to the excitement of the next! Looking back, I think I can safely say that the trip to Brazil I got to take in March was the highlight of the year (and quite possibly my entire life to this point). Looking ahead, I am super stoked to begin what I am anticipating will be nearly nine months of focused preparation for the WorldSkills 2011 in London next October. While the contest technical description and standards have not yet been released, I've begun discussing strategy and polishing up on my European diagnostic skills in anticipation of what I fully expect will be the most difficult contest I will face in my career. It is a daunting, yet severely exciting challenge that has motivated me to train and practice as much as I can, and give this thing my best shot! If you're at all interested, browse around the WorldSkills website and you can get an idea of what the event will be like. Also, I want to take a minute to say thank you to Rizzoli's Automotive, Snap-On Tools, Lowe's and all the other folks who support me and the WorldTeam, you are the ones who make all of this traveling possible! And if you are interesting in becoming a sponsor of me or the team, please contact me at daniel.lehmkuhl@gmail.com . Thank you!

Exciting News!

Well, it's been an eventful summer filled with good experiences and exciting news! The Skills USA National Championships were held in Kansas City at the end of June, and I was fortunate enough to win a silver medal in the Post-Secondary Automotive Service Technology competition. But the most exciting news of all was when I was informed that I have been selected to compete in the 2011 WorldSkills International Championships in London representing the U.S.A in the Automobile Mechanic competition. I am very excited about the opportunity and am looking forward to a year of preparation for this exciting event. Check back for more updates, I am going to be posting information on a regular basis. For more information about the WorldSkills Competition, visit www.worldskillslondon2011.com

Update from Kansas City

Yesterday was a long and tiring day competing from 8 AM until 4 PM but its finally done! I feel pretty good, things went well and I had a fairly large and rather raucous group of supporters following me around all day cheering me on which was awesome. We will find out results tonight at the medal ceremony around 7 PM Central time. Last night was our banquet with all of the business and industry members and sponsors. I got to spend a good amount of time chatting with Tim Zilke, President of ASE as well as the president of NATEF, former NASCAR driver, team owner, and ESPN commentator Rusty Wallace, and several Snap-On higher ups. Pretty fun stuff. I'll post results as soon as we find out.

Skills USA National Championships

It's competition time again! I am flying out to Kansas City tomorrow afternoon for the 2010 Skills USA National Championships. I will be posting updates and (hopefully) pictures all week long. Competition day is Thursday and results will be known Friday evening. Stay tuned!

Skills USA State Conference

Headed down to San Diego for the weekend for the Skills USA State Conference. I will be competing in the Automotive Service Technology category in the Post-Secondary Division. I'm also very excited to have my cousin and good friend Ben Sjogren compete in the AST High School Division. Should be a fun weekend!

Big thanks to Rizzoli's Automotive and the Rizzoli family for their generous sponsorship!

Victory!!!

Two silver medals for the USA!! Chase Trayal (Cabinetmaking) and myself, both received the silver, which was the highest we could possibly achieve. This was because the gold medal in each competition was given to the highest scoring Brazilian competitor as I explained earlier. So to us it is a victory!! We are very excited, and the celebration has begun!! I also was awarded the Best In Nation trophy, which is given to the competitor with the highest percentage score for each nation.

More to come, but I must go to the celebration now!

Competition Day 4

Its all over. Today was the last day of competition, I worked on Steering, Suspension, and Wheel Geometry (Alignment) this morning, and Ford Focus Engine Performance this afternoon. I did well, I believe scoring higher than 80% on both islands. Tomorrow we are going to take a sky tram to the Sugar Loaf, and then we head to the closing/awards ceremony. Then they throw a big celebration afterwards apparently. Interesting development today, we were informed that there will be one gold medal awarded, two silvers, and two bronze. In this competition, there are international World Skills Competitors like myself, and then there are a number of competitors from the different Brazilian states. They told us that the highest scoring competitor out of the Brazilians will be awarded the gold medal, and then the highest international competitors have a shot at getting a silver and a bronze. So, gold is out of the question, but at this point I will be very fortunate if I am able to medal at all. But we will see. I will post results as soon as I have them tomorrow!