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A team of undergraduate students from the University of Kentucky's Gatton College of Business and Economics earned second place in the nation this past weekend at the 2016 Wall Street Journal Business Challenge. The competition was hosted by the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University in College Station.

The team members are:

  • Cassandra Charalambakis, a senior economics major from Nicholasville, Kentucky;
  • Tim Koester, a sophomore finance and accounting major and honors student from Florence, Kentucky; and 
  • Nathan Ogg, a sophomore finance and accounting major from Lexington.

Tom Harper, a senior finance and marketing major from Lexington, served as student assistant coach while Gordon Holbein, a senior lecturer who teaches strategy and leadership, served as faculty coach.

The Gatton team worked through 10 straight hours of 265 rapid response questions and 150 multiple choice questions drawn from the prior five weeks of the Wall Street Journal.

Charalambakis, Koester and Ogg bested top students from schools such as Arizona, Emory, Michigan, Michigan State, Texas A&M and others. The team from Ohio State University captured top honors.

"Clearly, our Gatton students can compete with the best students from all over the country," Holbein said. "They are not only bright and hard working, they are becoming very well prepared to make valuable contributions to the world. It's a privilege to be able to work with them and all of our students here in the college."

Gatton College Dean David W. Blackwell praised the students for their strong performance.

"These students excel in representing all of us and the University of Kentucky on a national stage."