Purcell crowns 3 champions at State TSA Leadership Conference

When Purcell High School and Junior High TSA competed at the 2023 State Leadership Conference in Norman April 19-21, the Dragons carted home three first place awards.

Taking home top honors in the events were Nicholas Westmoreland and Riley Moore - Problem Solving; Shiv Patel, Owen Milner and Riley Moore in Drone Challenge and Aubrey Swain in the MS Flight Event.

Each school took 14 students with all 28 Purcell students making the semifinals in at least one of their events.

Second place finishes went to the Fashion Design Team of Mckenna Martin and Paisley Nichols. Also placing runner-up was Shiv Patel for Transportation Modeling and Jr Solar Sprint participants Kenna Lee and Josmar Munoz. Riley Moore placed second in Project Fair.

Bringing home hardware for third place were the Animatronics team of Keely, Nichols and Martin; Parker Page with his Dragster Design and Brecken Burson in Cybersecurity.

Ross Brock, Kash Guthmueller, Jude Leggett and Parker Page also received third in Catapult Design.

Purcell Freshman Mckenna Martin was elected as the 2023-24 State TSA Reporter.

“I am so proud of all the hard work the TSA students put in this year. The high school and junior high entered 58 different events this year and 38 of those events finished in the top 10,” TSA Advisor Paul Wollenberg said.

“We had three State Champions - Aubrey Swain won flight for the second year in a row, Nick Westmoreland and Riley Moore also repeated as State Problem Solving Champions and our Drone Team of Shiv Patel, Owen Milner and Riley Moore took first place in this brand new event for 2023.

“For the first time since 2016 Purcell High School had a team compete at state.  We have been without an active chapter for the past few years. Just goes to show how special of a group these students are. For them to come to state and have their success is an amazing tribute to their skills and hard work,”Wollenberg said.

Other Purcell High School placings include:

Architectural Design, Kash Guthmueller, Mandolin Keely, Martin, sixth; Audio Podcasting, Ross Brock, Guthmueller, Jude Leggett, Page, ninth; Board Game Design, Hunter Shaw and Dylan Smith, ninth.

Also, Dragster Design, Nicholas Westmoreland, eighth; Forensic Science, Patel and Westmoreland, sixth; Photographic Technology, Nichols, sixth; Promotional Design, Nichols, seventh; Senior Solar Sprint Guthmueller and Page, eighth.

And, Senior Solar Sprint, Brock and Leggett, 10th and Structural Design and Engineering, Owen Milner and Westmoreland, eighth; Technology Bowl, Ross Brock, Nichols and Page, fourth; Video Game Design, Milner and Nicholas Westmoreland, fourth.

Junior High results:

Catapult Design, Collier Goad and Jeremiah Harrison, eighth; Challenging Technology Issues, Arnold Addison and Kenna Lee, seventh; Children’s Stories, Addison, fourth; Cybersecurity Foundations Cole Guinn fourth; Dragster, Harrison, sixth; Dragster, Taylor Leggett, eighth and Essays on technology, Addison, seventh.

Also, Flight, Josmar Munoz, seventh; Leadership Strategist, Addison, Mavrik Akerman and Taizen Hernandez, sixth; Medical Technology, Addison and Lee, fifth; Pin Design, Wyatt Field, seventh; Project Fair, Hernandez, seventh; Stem Animation, Akerman and Greyson Lester, fourth; Structural Engineering, Reed Clary and Goad, sixth and Video Game Design, Burson and Guinn, fifth.