Trine students succeed in sports sales championship

Trine University seniors continued to excel in the National Collegiate Sports Sales Championship.

Trine’s team placed 15^th out of 52 colleges in universities in the virtual qualifier, held in November. The placement marked the third year in a row Trine finished in the top 15 and the second year the university finished as the top NCAA DIII team and the top team from Indiana, beating out Indiana University and Indiana University Purdue University-Indianapolis.

For the first time, three Trine students placed in the top 100 individually and qualified for the in-person championships, which will be held Feb. 27-28 in Atlanta.

AJ Klimek, a sport management major from Osceola, Indiana, placed 28^th in the qualifier. Ethan Hill, a sport management major from Guilford, Indiana, placed 36^th. Val Palermo, a marketing major from Fort Wayne, Indiana, placed 56^th. Logan Suchland, a sport management major from Angola, Indiana, also competed for Trine.

“I continue to be proud, but not surprised, by our performance in the NCSSC,” said Brandon Podgorski, associate professor in the Ketner School of Business and advisor for the team. “We compete against bigger schools with classes, faculty and even programs designed around sales. I only have the opportunity to work with our students for a few weeks before the competition, but their work ethic and determination is second to none. It has been a pleasure to work with AJ, Ethan, Val and Logan.”

The annual National Collegiate Sports Sales Championship is an opportunity for college seniors to showcase sports sales skills in a competitive format.