PRESS RELEASES

Kansas State student wins 2018 Sales Warm-Up

Posted: October 22nd, 2018

View 2018 Photo Gallery

College students from 22 schools located throughout the United States competed for cash prizes and the title of top salesperson at the 12th Annual University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Great Northwoods Sales Warm-Up, October 18-20, 2018. The event was held on the UW-Eau Claire campus.

The title of Top Sales Person went to Abbie O'Grady, a marketing and sales major from Kansas State University. She received $1,500, a trophy, and a custom suit from Tom James valued at $1,000. O'Grady was coached by Kellie Jackson.

Ethan Alexander, a marketing student from Louisiana State University, was named First Runner Up. He received $1,000 and a trophy. Alexander was coached by Greg Accardo.

2nd Runner Up was Justin Lentz, a marketing/professional sales major from Florida State University. He received $750 and a trophy. Lentz was coached by Chuck Viosca.

The Warm-Up wishes to thank all our other sponsors for supporting this year's events. Special thanks to this year's sales case writer, David Lenling from Hormel. We also wish to acknowledge the contributions of the corporate, university and community volunteers who gave their time and talents to make this event a success. See list below.

The 13th Great Northwoods Sales Warm-Up will be held October 24-26, 2019. For more information, contact Dr. Robert Erffmeyer, director, UW-Eau Claire Great Northwoods Sales Warm-Up or visit the competition's website at www.uwecsaleswarmup.com.

2018 Competitors & Coaches and Volunteers

COMPETITORS & COACHES

The highest scoring individual from each participating school, excluding the top overall winners, was named "school champion." Their names are listed in bold below. School champions received a trophy and a $150 cash prize

• Aurora University: Shawn Green, faculty coach. Competitors: Sal Lazaro, Taylor Opperman, Ryan Roberts. Alternate John Barnes
• Baylor University: Andrea Dixon, faculty coach. Mackenzie Waldon, assistant coach. Competitors: Megan Baniewicz, Micaela Brewer, Emily Mertens
• California State University, Fullerton: Brad Anderson, faculty coach. Competitors: Rachel Griffin, Skylar Martinez, Taylor Medina
• Florida State University: Chuck Viosca, faculty coach. Competitors: Justin Lentz, Kelly Patterson, Christina Talarico
• Illinois State University: Matt Lastner, faculty coach. Competitors: Austin Henderson, Jonathan Higgs, Alonso Ramirez-Rodriguez
• Kansas State University: Kellie Jackson, faculty coach. Competitors: Katie Horton, Abbie O'Grady, Kaitlyn Porter
• Louisiana State University: Greg Accardo, faculty coach. Competitors: Ethan Alexander, Andy Hutchins, Lee Leblanc. Alternate: Peyton Moggio
• Northern Illinois University: Rajan Kaul, faculty coach. Competitors: Emily Lund, Brandon Morales, Jason Tichy. Alternates: Darell James, Aaron Lotter
• Plymouth State University: Somnath Banerjee, faculty coach. Competitors: Shaelyn Devlin, Christian Kennedy, Lauren Steers
• The University of Texas at Dallas: Howard Dover, faculty coach. Brittany Knowles, student coach. Competitors: Tyra Banks, Shelly Meter, Ashton Murray
• University of Arkansas at Little Rock: Lenita Davis, faculty coach. Competitors: Aaron Hall, Jared O'Connor, Gabrielle Wilkerson
• University of Central Florida: William Steiger, faculty coach. Competitors: Justus Griffith, Angelo Liguori, John Warren
• University of Central Oklahoma: Grant Aguirre, faculty coach. Rebecca Luker, Staci Wert-Gray, assistant coaches. Competitors: Justin Brian, Chip Daniel, Chris Young
• University of Cincinnati: John Cox, faculty coach. Jeff Kroeger, student coach. Competitors: Maddie Henricks, Jacob Korniak, Serin Waddell, Jackson Young. Alternate: Tonyy Martini
• University of Dayton: Tony Krystofik, faculty coach. Competitors: Kevin Caste Katie Doubrava, Tanner Marklay, Siobhan Naughton
• University of Minnesota: Roy Gaddey, faculty coach. Competitors: Ben Bathke, Kyle Fox, Jayden Walsh
• University of North Alabama: Erin Gillespie, faculty coach. Competitors: Chandler Boy, Katy Harrington, Madison McNeely, Brandon Strickland
• University of Toledo: Katy Johnson, faculty coach. Competitors: Mason Breeding, Dhruv Gupta, Parker Tredwell
• University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire: Jessica Gardner, faculty coach. Competitors: Shelby Beavers, Kevin Miller, Rachel Wiener. Alternates: Sydney Kratochwill, Dylan Phinney
• University of Wisconsin-La Crosse: Stacy Trisler, faculty coach. Competitors: Epiphanie Belanger, Max Biebel,Jenna Challoner, Forrest Fenlon. Alternate: Ashley Forrest
• University of Wisconsin-Whitewater: Jimmy Peltier, faculty coach. Competitors: Brianna Oelke, Jackie Sticka, Sam Wanezek. Alternates: Audrey Bouland, Chris Hauser, Brianna Oelke
• Winona State University: Marianne Collins, faculty coach. Competitors: Asher Albee, Danny Beckman, Joey Velasquez

VOLUNTEERS

UWEC Faculty/Staff: Faith Bogstad, K. Brewer Doran, Kran Dugar, Bob Erffmeyer, Jennine Fox, Jess Gardner, Mary Girnau, Bill Hoepner, Gretchen Hutterli, Kate Kim, Kristy Lauver, Kevin Meinholz, David Nesvacil, Shane Opatz, Md Rokonuzzaman, Scott Swanson, Tim Vaughan, Jeri Weiser

UWEC Graduate Students: Ashlyn Blaschke, Rachel Galloway, Britta Gutschenritter, Leah Soik

Student IT Support: Branden Cousineau

Faculty Presentation: Howard Dover, The University of Texas at Dallas

UWEC Undergraduate Students: Gwen Ayd, Angie Baclura, Erin Benck, Brooke Boegli, Andrew Burt, Luke Daniels, Ellen Eisch, Hannah Erffmeyer, Katie Folsom, Tyler Fuerlinger, Spencer Gagne, Jared Geisert, Brett Guerts, Lauren Herrmann, Cullen Johnson, Juliet Kratochwill, Tyler Lee, Michelle Lisowski, Justin Mack, Haadia Malik, Hunter Mattison, KJ Munn, Elijah Mutter-Schulz, Macayla Palubicki, John Rechner, Brady Ruiter, Hailey Schultze, Chris Shibilski, Victor Tran, Kristin Thompson, Jonathan Tomasocki, Riley Trimmer, Tyler Tupy, Dalton Weller, Tuesday Willingale, Alex Winn, Samantha Wojnowiak, Lizzy Wolterman, Christina Zaine, Alex Zell

Corporate Buyers, Judges, Career Fair Representatives

• Actuant Corporation: Jon Bice, Bob Faragher, Paul Theine
• Adobe: Keith Bessinger, Jessica Holmes, Jake Renni, Selam Worku
• Aflac: Jocelyn Babich, Brett Rettenmund, Michael Smith
• CDW: Jared Bazzell, Melanie Parker, Brian Pospishil
• Ferguson: Leah Cassada, Ben Cejka, Cameron Furniss, Casey Laudermilk
• Gartner: Sawyer Fumelle, Lee Peterson, Beau Roberts, Liza Stenz, Eric Whitener
• Graybar: Kyle Hoffmann, Jake Johnson, John Kahne, Alex Piwoschuk, Ellen Rebne, Jeff Steely
• Henry Schein: Enzo Milano, Jack Minahan, Ashley Wojcinski
• Hilti: Jack Filipiak, Patrick Gotham, Elaina Hodges, Keith Mineo
• Hormel: Tim Bortner, Jennifer Dao, Cole Decker, Sarah Eastling, Paul Haase, Ashley Krautkramer, David Lenling, Gerald Meux, Kurt Mueller, Anthony Panichelli, Patty Riedl, Brody Swedberg, Kathy Volker, Sam Weikum, Jenna Wiliamson, Adonis Wooten
• igus Inc.: Kayla Abbate, Kevin Lang, Collin Stern, Brad Stuwe
• Inland Packaging: Henry Bernhagen, Shawna Dale, Evan Hoffman, Michael Kurth, Kelly Laufenberg, Garet Wetzel
• Liberty Mutual Insurance: Rebecca Caruso, Jacquitta Pool, Christa Robinson, John Sieg
• MEDIX: Tyler Cate, Joe Fiaoni, Marrissa Gillham, Lorrin Osko
• North American Plastics: Jake Audorff, Jason Jenkins, Amy Venezia
• Paycom
• Rice Lake Weighing Systems: Steve Hersman, Jake Nolin, Bri Skar
• SHI International: Lauren Albertin, Addie Barret
• SPS Commerce: Louis Bernard, Allie Davich, Peter Moosbrugger, Ali Pendergrass, Justine Simon
• Staples Business Advantage: Luke Elfering, Lisa Gordon, Kayla Peterson, Stefanie Rozelle
• SUPERVALU: Brian Audette, Abby Engelhart, Michael Hadden, Lindsey Hynes, Michelle Ihnot, Sean Kelsey, Logan Misewicz, Nadine Parris, Paul Poliachik, Janet Shevik, Scott Weber
• TEKsystems: Heather Novotny, Sarah Osterberg, Lindsey Virtrano, Logan Woller
• Tom James Company: Kay Kacheroski, Sophia Montana

View More News

2020