BOLIVAR, Mo. – Southwest Baptist University’s Phi Beta Lambda (PBL) organization had nine students
qualify for the PBL Nationals on June 24-27 in Anaheim, Calif., following an impressive
showing at the PBL State Leadership Competition on April 1 in Springfield.
SBU PBL, which competed against 208 students and 15 universities at the state competition, had 20 top-five finishes, including six first-place winners. SBU competitors included:
- Allison Hawkins — sophomore, St. Joseph; First place — Programming Concepts; Second place — Computer Applications
- Austin Masters — sophomore, Strafford; Fourth place — Cyber Security
- Chase Bussey — junior, Sedalia; First place — Cyber Security; First place — Network Design
- Emily Woods — junior, Osceola; Second place — Future Business Leader of America; Second place — Project Management
- Jalen Supancic — senior, Lynchburg; Second place — Business Communications; Second place — Contemporary Sports Issues; Third place — Management Concepts
- Jessa Kliewer — junior, Lee’s Summit; Third place — Sports Management and Marketing; Fifth place — Organizational Behavior and Leadership
- Josh Adams — sophomore, West Plains; Third place — Cyber Security; Fourth place — Programming Concepts
- Kiersten Harper — sophomore, Monett; First place — Public Speaking; Third place — Administrative Technology
- Stephan Munsell — junior, Belton; First place — Information Management; Second place — Network Design
- Jordan Burrows — freshman, Branson; Honorable mention
Team events
- Bussey-Masters — First place — Mobile Application Development
- Woods-Munsell — Second place — Management Analysis and Decision Making
“I am blessed to lead such a talented and hard-working team,” said Meilani Conley, SBU PBL advisor and instructor of computer science. “They represent our university and our mission statement well. I am very proud and look forward to seeing them compete on the national stage.”
In the last three years, SBU PBL students have claimed 13 top-10 national finishes at the PBL National Leadership Conference.
Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda (PBL) is a nonprofit education association with a quarter million students preparing for careers in business and business-related fields.
Cutline: Front row (left to right): Jessa Kliewer and Emily Woods; Back row (left to right): Stephan Munsell, Jalen Supancic, Chase Bussey and Austin Masters; Not pictured: Josh Adams, Jordan Burrows, Kiersten Harper and Allison Hawkins.