West Salem took nine first places and had 12 state qualifiers to lead all high schools in the 47th annual DECA District One Career Development Conference held Saturday, Jan. 12, at University of Wisconsin-Stout.
A total of 52 winners and runners-up advanced to the State Career Development Conference March 4-6 in Lake Geneva. The state event will have approximately 1,500 qualifiers.
The competition at UW-Stout drew 583 students from 19 area high schools. They competed in 18 individual and eight team events.
Chippewa Falls and Holmen had the second-most qualifiers with eight apiece. Next were La Crosse Central, four; Eau Claire North, Hudson, Menomonie, Sparta and Superior, three; Eau Claire Memorial and Northwestern, two; and Tomah, one.
Other schools competing were Altoona, Ashland, Glenwood City, La Crosse Logan, Ladysmith, St. Croix Falls and Stanley-Boyd.
Since 1946 DECA has provided co-curricular programs for students around the world interested in marketing, finance, hospitality and management careers.
The competition was hosted by the UW-Stout marketing and business education undergraduate program and its affiliated Marketing and Business Education Association.
The UW-Stout student co-coordinators for the District One event were Allison Rigotti, of West Salem, a junior majoring in marketing and business education; and Kathy Thorn, of West Salem, a senior in marketing and business education. Thorn is student-teaching at Hudson High School.
Along with UW-Stout students, faculty and staff coordinating the event, about 80 industry professionals from the region volunteered as event judges.
Results / State Qualifiers
DECA District One Career Development Conference
Saturday, Jan. 12
UW-Stout, Menomonie, Wis.
Individual events
Accounting applications: 1. Dagan Hemker, West Salem; 2. Scott Rust, Hudson
Apparel and accessories marketing: 1. Macy Nystuen, Eau Claire Memorial; 2. Madison Twitchell, Holmen
Automotive services marketing: 1. Julia Krien, West Salem; 2. Bennett Gunderson, Holmen
Business finance: 1. Madelyn Zenner, Chippewa Falls; 2. Benjamin Lemay, Chippewa Falls
Business services marketing: 1. Julia Heytens, Superior; 2. Chloe Oehler, Menomonie
Entrepreneurship: 1. Danielle Miller, West Salem; 2. Lauren McNally, Menomonie
Food marketing: 1. Max Schumacher, West Salem; 2. Jackson Krull, Superior
Hotel and lodging management: 1. Andrea Tryggestad, La Crosse Central; 2. Micah Mravik, Holmen
Human resource management: 1. Autumn Paulson, La Crosse Central; 2. Callie Ziebell, Sparta
Marketing communications: 1. Tatianna Briggs, Tomah; 2. Zachary Peterson, Holmen
Principles of business management and administration (freshman/sophomore, first-year member): 1. Alex Ewing, Hudson; 2. Aren Theisen, Eau Claire North
Principles of finance (freshman/sophomore, first-year member): 1. Chloe Lichucki, Holmen; 2. Amanda Jaeger, Sparta
Principles of hospitality and tourism (freshman/sophomore, first-year member): 1. Bailee Peterson, West Salem; 2. Kendra Trautsch, West Salem
Principles of marketing (freshman/sophomore, first-year member): 1. Kaden Weisenbeck, Eau Claire North; 2. Rianna Knoll, Sparta
Quick serve restaurant management: 1. Sacia Gilbertson, Holmen; 2. Ally Neidermyer, Menomonie
Restaurant and food service management: 1. Jazlyn Schumaker, La Crosse Central; 2. Bryce Radig, Northwestern
Retail merchandising: 1. Ryan Fell, West Salem; 2. Samuel Barnett, Holmen
Sports and entertainment marketing: 1. Logan Lecleir, Chippewa Falls; 2. Matt Courtney, Hudson
Team events
Business law and ethics: 1. John Glassmaker and Garrett Lord, West Salem; 2. Karlee Hudacek and Alissa Notenberg, Superior
Buying and merchandising: 1. Kendra Ames and Abby Sharp, West Salem; 2. Caelan Givens and Camryn Lahr, Chippewa Falls
Entrepreneurship: 1. Jack Fentress and Max Oberg, Eau Claire Memorial; 2. Alexa Breske and Braden Nissen, Holmen
Financial services: 1. Kennedy Bergh and Adrianna Bernier, Chippewa Falls; 2. Wyndsor Goodenough and Grady LaJuenesse, West Salem
Hospitality services: 1. Myranda Breezee and Kasha Hughlett, Northwestern; 2. Lizzy Averbeck and Nick Averbeck, West Salem
Marketing management: 1. Rachel Spaeth and Katie Steinmetz, Chippewa Falls; 2. Luke Franz and Christian Webb, Chippewa Falls
Sports and entertainment marketing: 1. Adam Gorski and Ethan Heger, West Salem; 2. Ryan Eckert and Kellan Miller, Eau Claire North
Travel and tourism: 1. Jacob Caron and Blake Trippler, Chippewa Falls; 2. Elizabeth Burelbach and Caitlyn Knobloch, La Crosse Central
###
Photos
Chippewa Falls was one of 19 high school teams that competed in the DECA District One event.
Katelyn Steinmetz, left, and Rachel Spaeth of Chippewa Falls took first place in the marketing management team competition in the DECA event.
