Warrington students win first place in national consulting competition

Undergraduate students Cindy Chen (BSBA ‘25), Marvin Bertram (BSBA ‘25), Sofia Galvan (BSBA ‘26), Vickie Lu (BSAc ‘26) and Trey Smith (BSBA ‘25) proudly represented the Warrington College of Business at the National Collegiate Consulting Championship (NCCC) and the National Collegiate Digital Marketing Championship (NCDMC) on March 31 and April 1. Led by team captain Cindy Chen, the students won first place in the NCCC and eighth in the NCDMC. 

The NCCC and the NCDMC are hosted by Baylor University in Waco, Texas. The two elite, back-to-back national showcases test the strategic precision and creativity of the top student consultants and marketers in the nation. The competitions each have four events: Presentation Pro, Quantum Quiz Marathon, Man Vs Machine and Viral. 

“In the weeks leading up to the competition, our team held multiple planning sessions—carefully mapping out case details, assigning roles and ironing out every logistical nuance,” team member Lu said. “We dove deep into background research, drafted and refined our executive summary and ran several full‑scale mock presentations to sharpen our arguments.”

The team specifically focused on the presentation portion of the competition to ensure effective delivery and thorough responses under the time restraints. Chen also provided the team with valuable insights and judges’ feedback from her competition from the year prior to create a new approach for this year’s competition. 

“Ultimately, our preparation paid off and on competition day we were able to go with our schedule and ensure we were well equipped to win it!” team captain Chen said. 

Since several of these events ran at the same time, the team split the members based on their individual strengths and skills so that each contestant competed in their strongest categories. Chen, Galvan and Lu tackled the Presentation Pro team tournament while Bertram and Smith took on the solo race of Quantum Quiz. Every team member also competed in the consulting simulation Man Vs Machine and the solo elimination game Viral. 

The team earned various honors in their respective events: 

• Lu, Chen and Galvan advanced to the final round of Presentation Pro, presenting their case on the main stage and placed second 

• Smith won three separate rounds of Go Viral for the consulting competition

• Bertram captured one Go Viral title and placed third in Quantum Quiz Marathon in the consulting competition; He placed first in the Quantum Quiz Marathon in the marketing competition

• Lu claimed a Go Viral win and was first place in Man vs Machine in the consulting competition

• Smith and Galvan placed second in the Quantum Quiz Tournament in the marketing competition 

“These achievements—both collective and individual—reflect the countless hours we invested preparing, rehearsing and supporting one another throughout the competition,” said Lu. “The process felt exhilarating and dynamic, and it only deepened our excitement for entering the professional sphere.”

“We competed for two long days and it took a lot of dedication to fly out to Texas and compete over 20 hours for two consecutive days,” said Chen. “The amount of drive and grit this team had to bring that trophy home to UF was the reason we won.”

Between meeting like-minded peers from other colleges to networking with leading professionals and recruiters in the industry, this competition allowed the team to gain professional experience beyond the competitive events. 

Walking away from the competition victorious, the team noted how the biggest lesson they learned was how invaluable each team member was. Although they shone individually, they shone brighter together as each of their successes contributed to the team’s achievements.

“I’m incredibly proud of my student’s performance,” their coach and marketing lecturer Valeria Marcia said. “This win means a lot to me—not just professionally, but personally. As their instructor, witnessing their growth and success is a powerful reminder of the impact we can have as educators. Seeing them achieve something so significant fills me with pride and reaffirms why I do what I do.” 

“Everyone contributed to the success of our championship win and a piece of us will always live within that trophy that will be homed at the university,” Chen said. “We are all incredibly grateful for the opportunity and for the support of UF and Professor Marcia for letting us go to Texas on the behalf of our amazing school! Go Gators!”