Apprentices Highlighted During Masonry Madness 2016 Words: Dan Kamys[caption id="attachment_12189" align="alignnone" width="300"] Lane Mullis from McGee Brothers Company, Monroe, N.C., won Third Year First Place in the Skills Competition.[/caption] The 17th annual Masonry Skills Challenge, held February 3, 2016, during the MCAA Convention at the World of Concrete/World of Masonry in Las Vegas, showed off the best apprentices our industry has to offer. The Masonry Skills Challenge is a competition of masonry apprentices in first, second and third year skill levels. The contest is a showcase for skills training in the masonry industry, challenging winning apprentices from regional U.S. and foreign competitions to determine the top masonry apprentice at each level. This exciting competition spotlights our industry’s finest young masons and focuses attention on careers in the masonry industry. Each contestant was presented with a project drawing appropriate to their skill level just moments before the competition began. Contestants only had three hours to construct the project based on the materials provided. The final projects looked great; the apprentices should be very proud of their three hours of hard work. The judges were impressed with the quality of the apprentices’ construction, and had the tough decision of choosing the winners. The top-placing contestants for each skill level were as follows: FIRST YEAR APPRENTICES FIRST PLACE Chaz Tomberlin McGee Brothers Company Monroe, N.C. SECOND PLACE Andrew Siefert JP Cullen & Sons, Inc. Janesville, Wisc. THIRD PLACE Jaris McClurg WASCO, Inc. Knoxville, Tenn. SECOND YEAR APPRENTICES FIRST PLACE Heath Maclean WASCO, Inc. Nashville, Tenn. SECOND PLACE Mack O’Dell Fort Scott Community College Pittsburg, Kan. THIRD PLACE Ken Hernandez Vandermay Construction Kalamazoo, Mich. THIRD YEAR APPRENTICES FIRST PLACE Lane Mullis McGee Brothers Company Monroe, N.C. SECOND PLACE Neal Hydeman D & D Masonry Kansas City, Mo. THIRD PLACE Nicholas Bracy Bracy & Jahr Quincy, Mich. All winners received trophies, cash prizes, and Marshalltown Company tool bags. First place winners also received engraved trowels from Marshalltown Company and concrete calculators from Calculated Industries. All contestants received a level from competition sponsor Stabila and additional prizes. For more information about the competition, its sponsors and contributors, please visit www.masonryskillschallenge.com. Tim O’Toole is the Director of Marketing, Education, and Information Technology for the MCAA.