KAHULUI — Maui teams took the top four places in the Hawaii finals of the 2009 Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills Competition, held Saturday.

The Maui High School team of Edler Espiritu, 17, and Chester Coloma, 18, was

crowned state champions and will represent Hawaii at the national championship in June in Dearborn, Mich. Their instructor, Shannon Rowe, also won the state title while a student at Maui High.

This is the 16th time the Kahului school is sending a team to the national finals. Student mechanics from Maui High placed in the top 10 for the last eight years, won national titles in 1995 and 2000 and placed second in 2003 and 2005.

Lahainaluna High's team of Dean Badua and Jonathan Agapay, coached by Dennis

Sasai, finished second, and the Maui High team of Mark Evangelista and John

Garcia was third. Their instructor is Neill Nakamura.

King Kekaulike High School students Michael Kinores and Russ Shibuya, finished in fourth place. Dave Masters is their instructor.

Six student teams competed in the state event, diagnosing and repairing problems planted into a Ford Focus. Scores from the hands-on test were combined with a written exam to determine the winner.