The wins keep piling up for students from Western’s School of Business after team and individual competitors dominated at the Pi Sigma Epsilon (PSE) Regional Conference in Omaha, Nebraska, November 7-9.
Despite being the smallest team among the 13 schools at the Conference, the Mountaineers could hold their heads high going in after bringing home two first-place finishes and placing several other competitors in the top five in last year’s slate of competitions.
The judges were quick to see why the Western squad was so confident. Among the 38 participants in the highly competitive Speakers Competition, Mountaineers made up four of the six finalists, with Nikki Waddle claiming first place and Dillon Ecker taking second. That kept the University’s streak alive after winning the same competition last year.
“During my time at Western, much of my focus has been on academics as a premedical student,” Waddle said. “However, this year, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and join a few new clubs, including PSE. I joined PSE to try something new and connect with people, and to my surprise, I gained so much more than I ever expected.”
The Mountaineer team had an equally impressive showing in the Marketing Challenge, where solo competitor Hannah Reuter won first place while another Western team made of Ashley Sokol and Bella Heinmiller took home the second place prize. Western’s Marketing Challenge team also took first place in last year’s event.
“As the faculty representative, individuals eager to share how impressed they were with our students repeatedly approached me,” Associate Professor of Marketing Joel Watson said. “Multiple employers even expressed interest in coming to Gunnison to speak with and interview our students.”
To round out Western’s stellar performance at the Conference, which is put on by the nation’s leading sales and marketing organization, Jacob Rose earned an impressive fourth-place finish among 46 participants in the Pro-Am Sales Competition.
“The students represented Western with grace and professionalism throughout the event, leaving a strong impression on employers, judges, and PSE executives alike,” Watson said. “This level of recognition is a shift we’ve seen over the past few years, thanks entirely to our students’ outstanding performance. I couldn’t be prouder of all of them.”
Author Credit: Seth Mensing
Photo Credit: Courtesy
