Kansas Wesleyan University students are headed to the west coast to participate in an international competition. The school’s DECA program is finalizing preparations for the 2025 international competition beginning this weekend in San Francisco.
According to KWU, the team enters after another strong state meet, where it took home six first-place honors. Those included a clean sweep of the main team (duo) events and another first-place in an individual event.
“The state event is always a great experience for our team,” said Dr. Trish Petak, who serves as the team’s coach. “We have a lot of newcomers and the DECA has grown significantly in the state of Kansas in recent years, with competitors nearly doubling at this level. Our Kansas competition is a crucial preparation for the international competition.”
“Our team really showed its continued dominance at State in February,” Petak continued. “Our Coyotes have grown tremendously since the start of the year and are ready to excel on the international stage. We are excited to make KWU proud in San Francisco and do our best to bring home more hardware!”
A full capsule of KWU’s results at the Feb. 28 state meet (Hillsboro, Kan.) is below.
Individual:
- First Place: Nico Horvat, Financial Accounting
- Second Place: Joaquin Toledo, Food and Restaurant Service Management
- Second Place: Darius Horvath, Travel and Tourism
Team (duo):
- First: Delanie McMullen and Shelby Davidson, Event Planning
- First: Courtney Auld and Caleigh Evans, Entertainment Marketing
- First: Tiana Marion and Madelene McVey, International Marketing
- First: Oriana Botz and Tru Haesemeyer, Marketing Communications
- First: Paige Chauncey and Clay Gagnon, Sports Marketing
- Second: McMullen and Davidson, Business Ethics
- Second: Marion and McVey, Business-to-Business Marketing
Prepared:
- Second: Auld and Gagnon, Business Research
- Third: Collin Phelps, Entrepreneurship: Starting a Business
At the 2024 international competition 11 of 16 KWU competitors brought home first-place awards. The 2025 international competition is April 6-8 in San Francisco.
DECA is an organized business competition that provides students with problems and requires them to present solutions. Some disciplines require a report written beforehand, while others involve an exam taken prior to the competition. All involve presentations with varying amounts of time to prepare, sometimes as little as 30 minutes.
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Photo via KWU
