A Ballarat apprentice tradie is set to take on the best in the country after taking out the Peter Bailey award at the Ballarat-Wimmera WorldSkills awards night on Friday.
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Competing in the electrical installation challenge, electrical apprentice Jack Owen took out the Peter Bailey award, which recognises the highest scorer across all trades.
The 21-year-old T.J Coutts Electrical Contractors apprentice said he was “pretty shocked” to take out the award.
Mr Owen will go on to compete in the national competition in Melbourne in October next year alongside gold medal winners from each of the different categories.
The winners of the national competition can then become eligible to join the Skillaroos national team, which goes on to compete in Abu Dhabi.
While the third year apprentice will be too old for the international electrical installation challenge, he will be eligible for the manufacturing team challenge if he takes the gold, which is comprised of a number of different trades.
But Mr Owen was weary to get too ahead of himself.
“I’ll just take it as it comes.”
WorldSkills Australia spokesperson Lisa Howlett said Mr Owen had shown enormous skill to achieve his score of 94.4 out of 100.
“We haven’t had a mark that high in the Peter Bailey award.
“We would be very surprised if he didn’t come back with a medal from the Nationals.”
WorldSkills competitors take part in a competition with at least six participants over a day, which tests them on a range of skills involved in their particular trade.
Competitors took part in 18 categories across trades from baking and hairdressing to welding and joinery.
The standardised score out of 100 allows competitors from different trades to be judged against each other for the Peter Bailey award.
The competition runs on a bi-annual cycle, with regional competitions taking place the first year, with national and international competitions taking place the following year.
The Winners:
Automotive Mechanics
Gold – William House
Silver – Kathleen Mayer
Bronze – Duane Wilmot
Bricklaying
Gold – Trystan Sammut
Silver – Bradley Paterson
Bronze – Paul Coon
Business Services
Gold – Zachary Merritt
Silver – Emily McGuigan
Bronze – Elizabeth Pearson
Bronze – Shanae Quick
Cabinetmaking
Gold – Tyler Atkinson
Silver – Sam Pinniger
Bronze – Dillon Aspland
Construction Steel Work
Gold – Leigh Wrigley
Silver – David Tuppen
Bronze – Bailey Pearse
Cookery
Gold – Grace Martin
Silver – Michael Nguyen
Bronze – Brittany Hook
Electrical Installation
Gold – Jack Owen
Silver – Patrick Sherry
Bronze – Darcy Osborne
Hairdressing
Gold – Hayley Powell
Silver – Chloe Ferrari
Bronze – Lisa Robertson
Joinery
Gold – Paul Summersgill
Silver – Samuel Hammond
Bronze – Hayden Barby
Plumbing
Gold – Thomas Ward
Silver – Brett Sanders
Bronze – Brody Price
Retail Baking - Bread
Gold – Alexander Slinger
Silver – Michelle Wilson
Bronze – Daniel Andrews
Sheetmetal Work
Gold – Jayden Chandler
Silver – Kyle Grigg
Bronze – Shannon Treloar
Turning
Gold – Matt Barton
Silver – Michael Mugavin
Bronze – Tyler Carter
Welding
Gold – Shaun Launer
Silver – David Tuppen
Bronze – Ian Gibb
VET in Schools Competitions
VETiS Construction
Gold – Owen Gamble
Silver – Nicholas Davies
Bronze – Jacob Rover
VETiS Electrotechnology
Gold – Brody Burke
Silver – Nathan Miller
Bronze – Tom Eastman
VETiS Metals & Engineering
Gold – Sam Bartlett
Silver – Brendan Thomas
Bronze – Lachlan Baxter
VETiS Hairdressing
Gold – Olivia Spagnolo
Silver – Ashleigh Batten
Bronze – Brooke Henderson
