NHD Utah National Contest Honors

College Park MD |  12-18 June 2026

In June, 47 Utah students, along with their teachers and family members, traveled to Washington, D.C., to compete at the National History Day National Contest. During this week of rigorous competition and international camaraderie, these young historians met other history students and professionals from across the continental United States, Hawai’i, Guam, American Samoa, China, Singapore, Korea, and Canada. As a team, Utah students met Senator John Curtis, toured the U.S. Capitol, and visited the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Three Utah entries placed in the National Top Ten in their category, one received the Special Prize on White House History, two received Outstanding State Entry awards, six placed in the National Top Twenty, and three were selected to present their work at Smithsonian and National Archives Student Showcases.

National Top Ten in Category

4th Place Junior Individual Performance: Benjamin Ashby, “Along the Line: How Henry Ford Changed Manufacturing with the Assembly Line and Model T” (Lakeridge Junior High, Orem)

7th Place Junior Group Exhibit: Connor Woodruff, Jet Baker, Tyler Brinton, “The Downfall of Deceit: How Whistleblowers Sparked Revolution, Reaction, and Reform in the Tobacco Industry” (Lakeridge Junior High, Orem)

8th Place Junior Individual Documentary: Abigail Metler, “Cooling the World: How the Refrigeration Revolution Caused Reaction and Reform of Modern-Day Life” (Lakeridge Junior High, Orem)

Outstanding State Entries

Junior Individual Performance: Benjamin Ashby, “Along the Line: How Henry Ford Changed Manufacturing with the Assembly Line and Model T” (Lakeridge Junior High, Orem)

Senior Group Exhibit: Genesis Gonzalez and Kaliya Heilman, “Martha Hughes Cannon” (Ogden High School)

Special Award Winners

Junior Group Performance: RJ Redfern and Sunny Jensen, “A Silent Revolution:  How the Silent Sentinels’ Revolution Won the 19th Amendment and Influenced Women Today” (Lakeridge Junior High, Orem)

Smithsonian Student Showcase Honorees

National Museum of African American History and Culture Documentary Showcase 

Junior Group Documentary: Georgie Cvetko and Maren Tomkinson, “Lying Down for Justice: How the People of Warren County Revolutionized Environmentalism To Include Racial Equality” (Timberline Middle School, Alpine)

National Museum of American History Exhibit Showcase

Senior Group Exhibit: Genesis Gonzalez and Kaliya Heilman, “Martha Hughes Cannon” (Ogden High School)

National Archives Foundation Website Showcase

Senior Individual Website: Sarah Zhang, “Shattering the Silence: Tuskegee’s Forty Years of Unspoken Harm” (Skyline High School, Salt Lake)

Honorable Mentions – Top Twenty in Category

Junior Individual Website: Fidel Effendi, “Formula 1: Past, Present, Future” (Thomas Edison Charter School North, Logan)

Junior Group Documentary: Georgie Cvetko and Maren Tomkinson, “Lying Down for Justice: How the People of Warren County Revolutionized Environmentalism To Include Racial Equality” (Timberline Middle School, Alpine)

Junior Group Performance: RJ Redfern and Sunny Jensen, “A Silent Revolution:  How the Silent Sentinels’ Revolution Won the 19th Amendment and Influenced Women Today” (Lakeridge Junior High)

Senior Individual Documentary: Megan Pautz, “From Public Outrage to Federal Reform: The Meat Inspection Act of 1906” (Orion Junior High, North Ogden)

Senior Individual Performance: Noah Millington, “Sears the Day: How Mail Order Catalogs Revolutionized American Consumer Behavior” (Westlake High School, Saratoga Springs)

Senior Group Exhibit: Genesis Gonzalez and Kaliya Heilman, “Martha Hughes Cannon” (Ogden High School)

Utah’s national delegation included students from: