33 Mariemont High School students advance to Ohio DECA State Competition.

Students in the Mariemont High School DECA program competed at the annual DECA District competition Jan. 22-23 on the campus of UC Clermont. More than 350 area students participated in the competition.

All competitors took a 100-question test on marketing, finance, management and hospitality concepts and had to perform an impromptu role play around a variety of topics including promotion, selling, customer relations, product management, financial analysis, market planning and emotional intelligence.

The top five individuals and top four teams from each category earned a ticket to the state competition in March. Winners at the state level will compete on the international stage in Nasvhille, Tennessee, later this year.

Five Mariemont Business and Marketing students took first place in their event, including Adam Takas (Accounting), Max Northrop (Business Finance), Ally Frye (Food Marketing), Isaac Trybus (Marketing Communications) and Henry Buck (Retail Merchandising).

Second-place finishers were Bridget Gilmore (Automotive Marketing), Chase Hollander (Human Resources), Courtney Kubicki (Marketing Communications), Max Megowen (Principles of Finance), Jossey Frye and Elizabeth Bonnell (Buying and Merchandising), Ryan Matarese and Jack Neville (Financial Services), Zach Stith and Michael Ryan (Sports and Entertainment Marketing), Melanie Weiss and Payton Smith (Travel and Tourism) and Rachel Bohl (Hospitality Selling).

The third-place winners were William Pettifer (Automotive Marketing), Izzy Harris (Human Resources), Mary Tully (Restaurant Marketing), Andrew Glassmeyer (Sports Marketing), Jonathan Cooper (Personal Financial Literacy) and Nick Comer and Ella Brennaman (Marketing Management).

Fourth-place winners were Luke Robinson (Business Finance), Ellie Trubisky (Principles of Hospitality) and Cameron Lackney and Jack Stephens (Sports and Entertainment Marketing).

The fifth-place finishers were Tyler Tritsch (Business Finance), Ava Hatcher (Food Marketing), Jacqueline Young (Hotel and Lodging), Anne Byers (Restaurant Marketing) and the team of Max Halpin and Bates Gall (Hospitality Services).

DECA is an association of high school marketing and business students pursuing careers in hospitality, management, finance and marketing. DECA is a co-curricular to the business program at Mariemont High School where Mr. David Vilardo is the program advisor.