After 2.5 days of spirited competition at the 2015 International Phoenix Challenge High School Flexo Competition, prizes were awarded to the top performers.

First-place was awarded to Keara Wingert and Rachel Radewahn, from Waukesha County Technical in Pewaukee, WI, USA. The pair won the first place award by earning the highest combined scores in the competition, which included five areas of testing: operating a flexo press, prepress, plate making, written knowledge and flexo math skills.

Along with the first place position, the team will each receive a $1,000 Phoenix Challenge Foundation Scholarship, and they will take home the Harper Flexo High School of the Year trophy cup, for display at the school.

“The competition gets more exciting and challenging every year,” says Bettlylyn Krafft, chairman of the Phoenix Challenge Foundation. “We see some of the best high school students in the United States and Canada. Things really got fired up with heated competition between the teams. These students never cease to amaze me.”

Second place went to Joe Till and Nathan Miller, Waukesha County Technical Pewaukee, WI. Third place went to Trenton Boyd and Andrew Garner from Fairfield Career & Technology Center, Winnsboro, SC, USA.

A total of nineteen teams participated, which has grown year over year since the Phoenix Challenge high school program began back in 1998.

Major sponsors of this year’s event included: Harper Corporation of America, Anderson & Vreeland, Mark Andy, Nilpeter, Sun Chemical, JR Cole Industries, Overnight Labels, ACTEGA-WIT, 3M, Avery Dennison, Bryce Corporation, UPM Raflatac, FFTA, Southern Graphics Systems, and Manitoba Print Industries Association.