Four students from the Arkansas Tech University LeMoyne Smith School of Business traveled to Nashville, Tenn., in February and finished ninth in the 2025 National Collegiate Sports Analytics Championship.
ATU senior business data analytics students Armando Harper of Gurdon, Landon Lawson of Fayetteville, Yasmin Pacheco of Hot Springs and Mekky Winyarat of Bangkok, Thailand, spent the fall 2024 semester preparing for the competition.
They analyzed social media data provided by the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) and developed strategies designed to improve engagement by fans and awareness within target audiences.
Dr. Matt Brown, ATU professor of business data analytics and interim associate dean of the ATU College of Business and Economic Development, and Dr. David Pumphrey, ATU assistant professor of business data analytics, advised the group and accompanied them to the national championship in Nashville.
“It shows how good our business school is at Arkansas Tech,” said Lawson when asked what the top-nine finish means. “I feel like I am receiving a high-quality education here. Being able to compete with the much larger universities across the country represents how well our Arkansas Tech business program is preparing us for success.”
The competition was held at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. Teams were allotted five minutes to present their analysis of the PWHL data.
“I learned more about the marketing side,” said Winyarat when asked about the most beneficial aspect of the experience. “They taught us about engagement and using the data to reach an audience.”
A panel of sports analytics professionals judged the presentations based upon statistical analysis, data visualization, actionable insights, communication and integrity.
Beyond the competition itself, the ATU delegation had opportunities to listen to speakers and interact with both sports analytics professionals and their peer business data analytics students from around the United States.
“For me, it was the networking and getting to know a lot of professionals within sports analytics and related fields,” said Pacheco when asked about her favorite part of the National Collegiate Sports Analytics Championship.
“As a student-athlete, the sports analytics field is very intriguing to me,” said Lawson. “Being in the Nashville Predators’ arena was awesome. We got to listen to a woman who works for the Predators and previously worked for the Indiana Pacers. Being able to hear her side of the sports management field and gaining that knowledge was very important.”
ATU founded its business data analytics program in 2012 and produced its first bachelor’s degree graduates from the program in 2014.
The ATU LeMoyne Smith School of Business is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), a distinction it first earned in 2000 and has maintained in the quarter-century since.
“The professors and everyone are close here,” said Harper. “You feel like you can talk to people and reach out to people. They will work with you the best they can if you have questions. They’re more than willing to help you. We have received the education we needed to prepare for this competition. You’re not alone here. You have professors who care about you and want to see you succeed.”
Learn more about the ATU College of Business and Economic Development at www.atu.edu/business.
