The OSU Competitive Sales Team excelled in a national University of South Florida competition for the second straight year. Front row (from left): David Anderson, Mayce Durham, Brenda Tapia, Haydan Thrash, Lily Hudson. Back row (from left): Drew Phenicie, Logan Dill, Carter Ashby. (Courtesy of Whitney Roman)

OSU Competitive Sales Team shows adaptability in national competition win

Friday, February 28, 2025

Media Contact: Stephen Howard | Director of Marketing and Communications | 405-744-4363 | stephen.howard@okstate.edu

The Oklahoma State University Competitive Sales Team entered this year’s Selling with the Bulls competition as both the defending champion and the ultimate underdog.

Although OSU proved itself as a winner last year, a winter storm posed a new challenge this February, preventing the team from traveling to the sales competition at the University of South Florida. With an automatic point deduction, OSU had to compete in a virtual format against teams attending in person.

None of those uncontrollable factors could stop OSU from winning a haul of awards, including a first-place trophy.

The student team of Mayce Durham, Brenda Tapia, David Anderson and Lily Hudson placed first in their division, outperforming teams from renowned programs across the country while demonstrating the quick thinking needed to succeed in sales. Durham, who placed second individually, said her team had to adapt its strategy to the unexpected virtual format.

“We focused on refining our communication skills to ensure we maintained strong engagement over video calls,” Durham said. “This meant practicing active listening, refining our screen-sharing strategies and ensuring our nonverbal cues remained effective.”

After forming in late 2023, the OSU Competitive Sales Team has secured back-to-back victories in Selling with the Bulls. This time, OSU entered two teams of four, and both finished with recognition. Logan Dill, Carter Ashby, Drew Phenicie and Haydan Thrash placed fifth in their division.

OSU was also well-represented in individual honors. Along with Durham’s runner-up award, Hudson took sixth place individually, and Thrash finished in eighth. Hudson claimed the top spot for Best LinkedIn Prospecting Message, while Durham and Phenicie were second and fifth, respectively.

Described on the USF website as “The Toughest Test in Sales Education,” Selling with the Bulls challenges participants to perform a full sales cycle, including prospecting, networking, discovery and sales meeting. This year’s competition, which spanned from Feb. 20-21, featured 112 students from 31 universities.

Whitney Roman, director of OSU’s Center for Sales and Service Excellence and faculty advisor for the Competitive Sales Team, said the team devoted many hours to preparing.

“It’s extremely impressive that they were able to compete in a virtual format against students from 30 other universities that were in person and still come out on top,” Roman said. “It speaks to their skill set, professionalism and determination.”

The Competitive Sales Team stays busy throughout the spring semester. Next is the National Collegiate Sales Competition from March 7-10 at Kennesaw State in Georgia. The team plans to then participate in the Challenger Sales Institute Competition at the University of Central Oklahoma and the Twin Cities Collegiate Sales Team Championship at the University of Minnesota.

No two competitions are alike, but Selling with the Bulls proved the OSU Competitive Sales Team knows how to adjust to new circumstances — even when snow and ice try to interfere.

“Ultimately, our adaptability and preparation gave us the confidence to win,” Durham said.

Visit the Spears School of Business website to learn more about the Competitive Sales Team.