A team of students from the University of Southern Indiana Romain College of Business welcomed the challenge to compete at The Econ Games 2026 presented by Bank of America on March 26-27 at the University of Kentucky’s Gatton College of Business and Economics. This is the sixth time a USI team has competed in the event.
While only the top three teams were formally recognized, USI’s team results reflected the program’s reputation for applied, high‑quality data analysis, delivering a polished, data‑driven project that faculty noted reflected a high level of analytical skill and collaboration.
USI’s seven students—Kenneth Gerard, Tabitha Jewel, Gwennith Kim, Cole Maynor, Luke Pettijohn, Luis Chanis Rodriguez and Jaxon Slagley—were joined by faculty advisor Dr. Daria Sevastianova, Associate Professor of Economics. USI competed against 230+ students from 29 universities including the University of Louisville, Virginia Tech University, Purdue University and more.
This year’s challenge was sponsored by Equibase, a partnership between subsidiaries of The Jockey Club and the Thoroughbred Racing Association of North America that provides horse racing data. The goal for each team was to develop a data-driven product or tool that utilizes GPS data to deliver meaningful insights beyond traditional horse racing statistics.
“Team USI worked together very well with everyone contributing to the fullest,” said Dr. Sevastianova. “They put in long hours to develop an efficiency index for horse racing that included key metrics that help predict the outcomes of races which was presented visually in the form of athlete profiles for horses.”
Student teams had 24 hours to focus on transforming spreadsheets of complicated data into easy-to-understand, impactful visuals that would help attract new viewers to the sport. Dr. Sevastianova noted that the team's presentation was “polished and confident”. Even though there were definitely some nerves when presenting, the students were grateful for the challenge.
“It was harder than singing in front of people,” said Tabitha Jewel, who has a background in music. “The Econ Games was a great learning experience. This competition gave me a better understanding of the skills needed to add value in any industry, and I’m excited to keep learning and come back to compete next year!”
In addition to the competition, there were career tables set up with various companies where students could network and connect for potential post-college opportunities. This year’s Econ Games was the largest since its inception in 2018, surpassing last year’s total of 140+ students.
Sevastianova also praised the high quality of data work that our USI students are capable of, showcasing that they’re able to apply cutting edge tools to make data more user friendly. She also noted that this year’s team is eager to use this experience as motivation for next year’s competition and says students are already banding together to recruit and form a bigger squad for The Econ Games 2027.
“USI’s history left a reputation for us to fall into and I’m confident we did our best to fulfill our role,” said Jaxson Slagley, referring to USI’s title in 2022. “I’m grateful for the experience and I can’t wait to compete next year.”
Kenneth Gerard added: “This was an opportunity to do something like nothing I have ever done at USI before.”
View a gallery of photos from the trip here.