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SDSU Commercial Team Takes Home Third Place at ASC Student Competition By Kellie Korhonen, Digital Communications and Technology Manager (Published in Tuesday Morning Quarterback February 17, 2026) Five local AGC member companies - Clark Construction, FILANC, Helix Electric, McCarthy Building Companies and Swinerton - coached the San Diego State University (SDSU) students in the Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) competition, one of which led to a third-place spot for the Commercial team. The ASC Region 6 & 7 Competition is one of the largest student construction competitions in the nation with 246 teams from 56 universities across 20 states! In the crowd this year were 39 students from SDSU on teams that competed in the following categories: Commercial, Heavy Civil, Preconstruction, Electrical, and Sustainable Building. The competition requires student teams to tackle real-world construction challenges tailored to specific industry categories by completing tasks related to their project for over 10-12 hours and then presenting to the judges the following day for a busy two days. For the past eight months, the SDSU students had the support of AGC’s San Diego Construction Leadership Council (CLC), team sponsors, SDSU faculty advisors, and industry coaches. Special shoutout to our team sponsors and coaches (those marked with * attended the competition in person): Electrical – Helix Electric • Scott Massner* • Lia Hodge* • Eduardo Nunez • Bryce Kepler* • Noah Sanchez Commercial – Clark Construction • Daelen Benioff* • KK Clark • Brooke Miller* • Mariam Yousif* Heavy Civil – FILANC • Andrea Farias* • Michelle Filanc* • Tony Ruiz* • Jacob Rivers, Griffith Company* Preconstruction – Swinerton • Kyle Butler* • Rick Collette • Alyssa Jaramillo* • Catie Dines Sustainable Building – McCarthy Building Companies • Aaron Magdaleno • With support from Michelle Filanc* and SDSU faculty Dr. Thais Alves* and Dr. Juhyeon Bae Thanks to all the coaches this year! Congratulations to the SDSU Commercial team who placed third out of 22 teams in the ASC Region 7 Student Competition! “Honestly, it felt surreal," Team Captain Sara Lopez shared when she heard San Diego State announced. "It felt like the last three years of competing, and all the hard work that went into them, had paid off. Seeing the judges from Hensel Phelps that I’d interacted with over the past three years, getting to shake their hands, celebrating with my teammates after leaving the stage, and jumping up and down with my coaches and faculty was an unforgettable experience.” Lopez also shared that the key to their success this year was team cohesiveness. "Everyone understood what was happening in the other sections because, more often than not, we had helped each other complete them. Our collaboration was truly the key to our success this year,” she said. The Commercial team was the first team to place for SDSU in the ASC Competition back in 2012 and now has earned third place four times. Last year, the Electrical team also took home third place. A big shoutout to SDSU Faculty Dr. Thais Alves, Nensi Lakrori, Reza Akhavian, and Paul Jackson for attending and supporting the student teams. The SDSU AGC Student Chapter, along with AGC’s support and the support of the Student Chapter Reno Lead, William Morton, organized the teams and coordinated the preparations for the competition. Finally, if you served as a team coach, or a "Mock Problem" spectator this year to help the teams prepare them for the competition, please give yourself a pat on the back. Thank you for your involvement and for helping ready the students for competition. They will surely graduate from this program and from SDSU to take their place as excellent future leaders of the construction industry. Want to get involved in next year’s process? Reach out to Kellie Korhonen now to get involved with the CLC or to learn what it takes to be a coach!
SDSU Commercial Team Takes Home Third Place at ASC Student Competition By Kellie Korhonen, Digital Communications and Technology Manager (Published in Tuesday Morning Quarterback February 17, 2026) Five local AGC member companies - Clark Construction, FILANC, Helix Electric, McCarthy Building Companies and Swinerton - coached the San Diego State University (SDSU) students in the Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) competition, one of which led to a third-place spot for the Commercial team.
The ASC Region 6 & 7 Competition is one of the largest student construction competitions in the nation with 246 teams from 56 universities across 20 states! In the crowd this year were 39 students from SDSU on teams that competed in the following categories: Commercial, Heavy Civil, Preconstruction, Electrical, and Sustainable Building.
The competition requires student teams to tackle real-world construction challenges tailored to specific industry categories by completing tasks related to their project for over 10-12 hours and then presenting to the judges the following day for a busy two days.
For the past eight months, the SDSU students had the support of AGC’s San Diego Construction Leadership Council (CLC), team sponsors, SDSU faculty advisors, and industry coaches. Special shoutout to our team sponsors and coaches (those marked with * attended the competition in person):
Electrical – Helix Electric • Scott Massner* • Lia Hodge* • Eduardo Nunez • Bryce Kepler* • Noah Sanchez
Commercial – Clark Construction • Daelen Benioff* • KK Clark • Brooke Miller* • Mariam Yousif*
Heavy Civil – FILANC • Andrea Farias* • Michelle Filanc* • Tony Ruiz* • Jacob Rivers, Griffith Company*
Preconstruction – Swinerton • Kyle Butler* • Rick Collette • Alyssa Jaramillo* • Catie Dines
Sustainable Building – McCarthy Building Companies • Aaron Magdaleno • With support from Michelle Filanc* and SDSU faculty Dr. Thais Alves* and Dr. Juhyeon Bae
Thanks to all the coaches this year!
Congratulations to the SDSU Commercial team who placed third out of 22 teams in the ASC Region 7 Student Competition!
“Honestly, it felt surreal," Team Captain Sara Lopez shared when she heard San Diego State announced. "It felt like the last three years of competing, and all the hard work that went into them, had paid off. Seeing the judges from Hensel Phelps that I’d interacted with over the past three years, getting to shake their hands, celebrating with my teammates after leaving the stage, and jumping up and down with my coaches and faculty was an unforgettable experience.”
Lopez also shared that the key to their success this year was team cohesiveness. "Everyone understood what was happening in the other sections because, more often than not, we had helped each other complete them. Our collaboration was truly the key to our success this year,” she said.
The Commercial team was the first team to place for SDSU in the ASC Competition back in 2012 and now has earned third place four times. Last year, the Electrical team also took home third place.
A big shoutout to SDSU Faculty Dr. Thais Alves, Nensi Lakrori, Reza Akhavian, and Paul Jackson for attending and supporting the student teams.
The SDSU AGC Student Chapter, along with AGC’s support and the support of the Student Chapter Reno Lead, William Morton, organized the teams and coordinated the preparations for the competition.
Finally, if you served as a team coach, or a "Mock Problem" spectator this year to help the teams prepare them for the competition, please give yourself a pat on the back.
Thank you for your involvement and for helping ready the students for competition. They will surely graduate from this program and from SDSU to take their place as excellent future leaders of the construction industry.
Want to get involved in next year’s process? Reach out to Kellie Korhonen now to get involved with the CLC or to learn what it takes to be a coach!