Highlighted by an individual national championship by senior Daniel del Moral Díaz, a dozen University of the Ozarks business students had the opportunity to put their skills to the test on a national stage this week at the National Collegiate Digital Marketing Championship, the National Collegiate Innovation Championship, and the National Collegiate Sports Analytics Championship hosted by Baylor University in Nashville, Tenn.
Díaz, a business management major from Mexico City, took top honors in the Presentation Pro category of sports analytics, which included 74 fellow collegiate competitors from throughout the country. The topic was the statistical analysis of Minor League Baseball and Díaz’s presentation focused on how to increase fan base and audience through the use of social media. He used regression analysis with control variable to standardize metrics. Facebook usage was the major attractive media for this purpose due to its main user profile.
“It was an incredible honor and blessing to compete at the National Collegiate Sports Analytics Championship against students from some of the most prestigious universities and top business programs in the nation,” Díaz said. “To come out on top as a national champion is something I am deeply grateful for. First and foremost, I thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for guiding me and giving me this opportunity. I am also extremely thankful for my mom back home for her unwavering support, and especially for Dr. [Juan-Carlos] Garcia’s support and guidance throughout this journey. I am deeply grateful to the faculty, staff, and my peers at University of the Ozarks who have believed in me and invested in my growth. It has been a true honor to represent University of the Ozarks and to return to my home away from home with a national championship.”
“We had a great participation this year,” said Dr. Juan Carlos García-Piña Rossetti, assistant professor of management. “This time we had a great student who ended up winning the main event of the NCSAC and he’s the national champion of the sport analytics presentation, where he faced students from some great universities. We’re proud of Daniel, he has a great future ahead of him. I also want to congratulate Roberto Castro Montaño, who advanced to the second round in the same category. Congratulations also to Zaidd Castro who got ranked 37th and Jalissa Hollingsworth who got 28th in NCIC. I thank the Lord for this great blessing in our students and faculty.”
In addition, both García-Piña Rossetti and Dr. Christine McCain, associate professor of economics, were recognized as top judges in the competition. NaLisa Brown, assistant professor of marketing, also attended the event.
The U of O students who took part in the competition included, Daniel del Moral Díaz, Roberto Castro Montaño, Prudence Majoni, Kenia Yamileth López Portillo, Katie Robinson, Morgan Turnquest, Genevieve Miller, Takeia Ferlin, Zaidd Castro, Harper Branch, Valeria Mejia and Jalissa Hollingsworth.
Topics: Business Administration