Two students from Maui High School placed 14th at today’s 2009 Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills National Championship at Dearborn, Mich.

Teams from the Kahului school have represented Hawaii at the national finals 15 times since 1992, and won national titles in 1995 and 2000.
Recent graduates Chester Coloma, 18, and Edler Espiritu, 17, took 92 minutes and 58 seconds to repair their “bugged” Ford Escape at AAA Michigan headquarters, and received just one demerit, according to a news release. They were coached by Maui High School instructor Shannon Rowe, who competed in the 1996 national competition.
The Hawaii team members each received a $1,000 scholarship to the Lincoln College of Technology, and by finishing in the top 15, Maui High will receive a Ford vehicle for its automotive technology program.
The top five finishers in today’s national competition were Minnesota, Colorado, Alabama, Texas and California. 
“We’re really proud because the kids did a great job,” Rowe said. “The team fixed the problems with the car; the one demerit was a small mistake that took the team down several places.  But the students are happy with how they represented their community and the state of Hawaii.”