(St. George, UT) - Five Dixie State College of Utah business students recently took first place at the 2011 Utah Collegiate DECA Competition held last month in Salt Lake City. Those five students, along with 19 of their fellow DSC business classmates, earned the right to advance and compete at the 2011 International DECA Career Development Conference in Orlando, Florida, this April 12-16.

This year’s competition marked the first time in DSC history that all 24 students who competed qualified for the International DECA competition. DSC Udvar-Hazy Business Department Chair Dr. Philip Lee says that each student can choose to compete in two of the 19 total business/marketing/finance competitive events. Lee added that of the 24 DSC participants, three students claimed second place honors, six placed third overall, and 12 more qualified as finalists in their respective events.

Lee noted that usually DSC has 12-15 students qualify for the international competition each year, but was gratified to see all 24 students who competed at the state meet qualify to represent Dixie State in Orlando in April.

“Getting all 24 students to Orlando has created a bit of a financial challenge for us, but it’s a nice challenge to have,” Dr. Lee said. “We’re extremely proud of our students and feel their success is indicative of the quality of our business programs and level of education here at Dixie State.”

DSC’s first-place winners were junior Abraham Thiombinana (Ouaguadougou, Burkina Faso, West Africa) in the Financial Services competition, seniors Stephen Campbell (St. George) and Derek Leinbach (Fruit Heights, Utah) in Web Page Design competition, and senior Tyler Lewis (St. George) claimed top honors in Human Resource Management and teamed with senior Trevor Linderman (Rexburg, Idaho) to win the Financial Statement Analysis competition.

Earning runner-up recognition were junior Yoo Rim Heo (St. George) and sophomore Aaron Anderson (Santa Clara, Utah) in Business Law, and senior Trevor Linderman in Human Resource Management. Senior Rebecca Glauser (St. George) placed third in two events, including Financial Services and Business Ethics, as did senior Brandon Staples (Mesa, Ariz.) in the Business Ethics and Sales Representative competitions. Four other students placed third in their respective events, including senior Bobbi Nessen (Tooele, Utah) in Sales Manager Meeting, senior Cody Pitcher (Ivins, Utah) in Restaurant Management, junior Eric Reed (St. George) in Entrepreneurship, and sophomore Nate Rice (New York, New York) in Design.

In the DECA state competition, students were judged primarily on their ability to analyze and come up with impromptu solutions to case studies. The competition consists of 19 different categories. In order to qualify for internationals, students had to at least place in the top eight of their respective categories at the state level.

Approximately 2,500 students from across the country, along with representation from Puerto Rico and Canada, will take part in the international competition.