Thirteen members of Wenatchee High School’s DECA chapter advanced to the international DECA competition at this year’s state conference. The conference took place in Bellevue from March 2 to March 4. Qualifying individuals will visit Anaheim, CA this April to attend ICDC (International Career and Development Conference).

To qualify, students in role play events needed to place in the top seven, and students in prepared events needed to place in the top six. With over 3,600 kids competing from more than 160 high schools, competition was stiff. When asked how Wenatchee compared to the other high schools, sophomore Jake Rhyner said “I think we did well, we brought a little less people (to state) than last year, but pretty much every year we can compete with some of the top schools in the state.”

Within the 33 students competing at the state conference from Wenatchee, the following thirteen individuals became international qualifiers: junior Sebastian Pasion placed first in Principles of Marketing, the team of sophomore Jake Rhyner and sophomore Xavier Martinez placed second in Financial Literacy Promotion Plan, junior Spencer Rickel placed second in Personal Finance Literacy, junior Colin Snyder placed first in Sports and Entertainment Marketing, freshman Simone Crane placed sixth in Business Finance, the team of sophomore Mason Dalbeck and sophomore Lucas Jobe placed sixth in Sports and Entertainment Team, junior Sophia Castillo placed seventh in Marketing Communications, the team of freshman Abigail Simmons and freshman Abigail Wilt placed seventh in Travel and Tourism Team, sophomore Morgan Narby qualified in Retail Merchandising, and sophomore Bailey White qualified in Community Service Project.