Trine sport management students place in top 20 to qualify for national competition

Four Trine University sport management students have qualified for the National Collegiate Sports Sales Championship (NCSSC) competition in February, placing in the top 20 out of nearly 900 participants nationwide.

Josh Hartman of Whitestown, Indiana, placed seventh. Beckam Pichardo of Sunland Park, New Mexico, was 12^th; Isaac Wilson of Noblesville, Indiana, was 15^th; and Mason Slazyk of Fort Wright, Kentucky, placed 17^th.

Other Trine students competing were: Avery Kline of Fort Wayne, Indiana, 39^th; Will Gimbel of Shorewood, Illinois, 62^nd; Kyler Bayes of New Haven, Indiana, 66^th; Alex Elliott of Battle Creek, Michigan, 80^th; Adam Ramey of Granger, Indiana, 81^st; Gage Schnelker of Waterloo, Indiana, 180^th; and Cole Dean of Parchment, Michigan, 198^th.

4- and 5-star rankings

Students also received star rankings based on several metrics, including their performances in fall showcase competitions and the virtual NCSSC Super Showcase in November.

Hartman, Pichardo, Wilson and Slazyk earned five-star rankings and Kline, Gimbel and Bayes received four-star rankings.

“All 11 seniors ranked within the top 23% in the nation, which is an incredible feat,” said Zander Atwood, faculty advisor and assistant professor of sport management at Trine University.

“I’m incredibly proud of the work they’ve done to perform well in this competition. They’ve studied and practiced a lot to gain the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in this challenge, and all of them rose to the occasion and supported each other well throughout the competition.”

Hartman, Pichardo, Wilson and Slazyk will compete at the NCSSC event in Atlanta, Georgia, on Feb. 24-25.

Fall competition, Teaching Award

To qualify for the NCSSC competition, Trine students competed in head-to-head virtual showcases against the University of New Mexico and the University of Louisiana at Lafeyette, defeating both, as well as the Super Showcase.

“The students received individual scores through all these challenges, which added up toward their final score in the individual student national rankings,” Atwood explained.

In addition to the student recognition, Atwood was one of six educators honored as a first team All-NCSSC Teaching Award Winner.

NCSSC honored educators whose students received high rankings in the fall competition.

"My students are the real winners,” Atwood said. “I go into every academic year with the mentality of putting forth my best effort in every class in hopes my students will take something important away from it all. This semester, that proved to be true.”

The NCSSC is a ticket sales and corporate partnerships sales role-play competition that allows college seniors majoring in business administration and sport management the chance to compete against top talent from across the nation.