UCF business students Erin Engel, Jordyn Fiorica, William Newbold, Jordan Ray and Brock Stephens were crowned champions with their idea for a virtual reality simulator to better the DICK’S Sporting Goods House of Sports experience
ORLANDO, FL (July 13, 2026) – UCF business students Erin Engel, Jordyn Fiorica, William Newbold, Jordan Ray and Brock Stephens teamed up to win the 2026 Great Capstone Case Competition on Friday. The competition is typically the final course before graduation where students in the College of Business present inventive proposals for modern, real-world business issues as part of their final coursework in the college.
The Capstone course enables students to collaborate and develop their analytical, communication and teamwork skills. Dick’s Sporting Goods worked in partnership with BNY for this competition, providing the framework each group used for the proposals. Finals’ judges included BNY representatives Reshanna Jagroo, Tatiana Manzanares and Logan Parkes, Golf Galaxy Store Manager James Gick, DICK’S Sporting Goods General Manager Robert Dupuy and the college’s Finance Executive in Residence Paul Gregg.
“I am consistently impressed by the depth of research and the exceptional quality of work our students dedicate to their Capstone projects,” said Christopher Leo, Senior Lecturer of the Strategic Management course, before presenting the awards to the winners. “The compressed timeline of the Summer semester demands intense focus, and these winning teams have truly risen to the challenge.”
Victory Analytics (Avah Armour, Andrea Ballestro, Arne Michaelis, Ysabela Rodriguez, Marcus Rumbaugh) finished second and Mission Possible (Ariana Bridgemohan, Balecia Knighton, Daniela Martinez-Rivera, Mckenna O’Brien and Victoria Perez) finished third.
Leo presented the winning team’s lab instructor, Jade Laderwarg, Ed.D., MBA, SHRM-CP, with the Nichols Cup, named in honor of longtime Capstone instructor Gary Nichols ’87. The winning lab instructor keeps the trophy until the next competition.