JACKSON, Tenn. — Oct. 25, 2007 — A team of three 51社区 business students won the Fifth Third Bank Stock Market Challenge competition Oct. 24 in Nashville, Tenn.
Marielle Dirkx, Stephen Lynch and Jonathan Moore turned $500,000 into nearly $2.4 million in the contest 鈥� a 373 percent increase -- and finished more than $700,000 ahead of second-place Tennessee Tech University.
鈥淚鈥檓 extremely proud of them, and I think it shows the quality of the thinkers that we have in our students,鈥� said Kenny Holt, associate professor of economics and management. 鈥淭hey had to react to what was going on in the room. It was not just knowledge you had stored up. It was the ability to react and think critically.鈥�
Holt said the competition, held at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Nashville, involved watching price movements, reading tips and news stories and deciding how to capitalize on opportunities.
Twenty-five teams from Union and seven other Tennessee universities 鈥� Belmont, Lee, East Tennessee State, Middle Tennessee State, Trevecca, Cumberland and Tennessee Tech-- participated in the competition, also sponsored by Junior Achievement of Middle Tennessee. Belmont won the competition last year.
Union鈥檚 two other teams in the contest finished fifth and eighth overall, putting all three Union teams in the top 10. The fifth-place team consisted of Alyssa Enzor, Caleb Helms, Mitch Holt and Robert Mannion, while the eighth-place team consisted of Steve Bredfeldt, Lucas Curfman, Ben Farrow and Lisa Smiley.