ROSEMONT, Ill. — The Roofing Alliance, celebrating 25 years as the foundation of the National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA), is proud to announce the first- and second-place winners for the 7th annual Roofing Alliance student competition — Clemson University and Colorado State University (CSU), respectively.

Due to the pandemic, this year's competition and award ceremony were held virtually. The awards were presented to the winning teams and best individual presenters during today's virtual awards ceremony, though competition coordinators said determining the winners wasn't easy.

"This was a difficult decision this year due to the added challenges of the oral presentation being performed virtual, but even more than that, the judges had such a challenge this year because all of the presenters did such a great job," said Allen Lancaster, current student competition chair and vice president of Metalcrafts, a Tecta America Co., Savannah, Ga.

The first-place award was presented to Clemson University for its outstanding written and oral presentations on the team’s bid package proposal on the Las Vegas Raiders practice facility, part of the new Intermountain Healthcare Performance Center in Henderson, Nev. The team will receive a $5,000 L.B. Conway Scholarship for their school. The team consisted of team captain Luke Skertich and teammates Declan Fay, Allison O’Toole, Hannah Smith and team alternate Hendrix Smith. Clemson University’s faculty coach is Dhaval Gajjar, and its advisor was Will Fort of Bone Dry Roofing, North Charleston, S.C.

"I'm extremely proud of my team and I and our advisor, Dr. Gajjar, as well as our industry advisor, Will Fort, thank you all for your hard work and support," said Skertick. "It's been an absolute honor to be a part of this."

The second-place winning team is CSU, who will receive a $2,500 Fred Good Scholarship for their school. The CSU team was led by team captain Joshua Houser with his team of Kendall Carter, Jacob Schneider, Mackenzie Voshage and team alternate Terry Copperman. The CSU faculty coach is Nicholas Rubino, and the team mentor was Kent Nelson, Front Range Roofing Systems LLC, Greeley, Colo.

Both teams also received recognition from the competition's Best Individual Presenter Awards, with Clemson's O'Toole winning the first-place award and CSU's Houser receiving the second-place award.

This year’s competition challenged four finalist university-level construction management student teams that included: 

• Clemson University, Clemson, S.C.
• Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colo.
• Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
• University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.

The teams were tasked with submitting a qualified bid package for a new roof system on the Raiders practice facility. Working with Commercial Roofers Inc. of Las Vegas owner Dennis Conway, the founder of the student competition, the Roofing Alliance student competition committee prepared the bid package for the schools. The project was originally reroofed by Commercial Roofers Inc.

"They competed through written and oral presentations on their roofing knowledge, project management capabilities and presentation skills," said Lancaster. "The teams researched the project, reviewed the plans and specifications, and assembled a full estimate and qualified bid package proposal that was submitted to a board of Roofing Alliance judges. The oral presentations and the award ceremony are available to view on the Roofing Alliance YouTube channel. It is with great pride that we can share this with the roofing industry."

For more information on the Roofing Alliance student competition and overall information about the Roofing Alliance contact Bennett Judson, the Roofing Alliance’s executive director, at bjudson@roofingalliance.net or visit www.roofingalliance.net.