Mercyhurst tops nation in Digital Marketing Championship
Competing against elite universities from across the country, Mercyhurst University delivered a powerhouse performance, securing a first-place finish at the National Collegiate Digital Marketing Championship held at Baylor University on April 1.
In a field of 28 highly competitive teams, Mercyhurst dominated the academic decathlon, rising to the top of the leaderboard and dethroning defending national champion Ohio State University.
Representing the Lakers with skill and determination were Lilly Dunn, senior Marketing/Business Management double major; Abby Kane, senior Marketing/Sport Business Management double major; Kalista Linden, senior Competitive Intelligence major; Marielle Parks, senior Biology/Marketing double major; and Jay Tonks, senior Sport Business Management major and student in the Organizational Leadership master’s program. The team’s victory was guided by the expertise of Dr. John Parente, associate professor of Sport Business Management, with an assist from program adviser William Jeffress.
Besides winning the entire event, the five Mercyhurst competitors each placed among the championship’s “top digital marketing students in the country,” finishing in the upper half and claiming more spots than any other university.
“The national competition is designed around teamwork, and each of us played a crucial role in achieving this trophy,” said Tonks. “In terms of individual points, the five of us were in the top 12 out of 200 students. We accumulated 4,600 points overall, 2,000 more than the second-place winner.”
Parente credited the Mercyhurst win to “an incredible display of teamwork, strategy, and sheer talent. Each of our students brought a unique strength to the table, and we built a winning game plan that capitalized on those strengths. Watching them execute with such confidence and precision was nothing short of inspiring. They proved that when you put in the work and trust the process, you can compete with—and beat—the very best in the nation.”
With this monumental win, Mercyhurst has firmly established itself as a national powerhouse in digital marketing competition, setting the stage for even greater achievements ahead. Parente said he is working on enlisting students for similar national competitions next year.
“Our students are competitive, driven, and work consistently to make tomorrow better than today,” Parente said. “We had a competitive advantage from team selection to the students’ individual strategies throughout the day. It was palpable how dialed in these guys were.”
The championship featured four distinct individual and team events—Presentation Pro Bracket, Quantum Quiz Marathon, Man vs. Machine, and Viral Competitions—where universities accumulated points based on their performances.
Representing Mercyhurst in the Presentation Pro segment were Tonks, Kane, and Dunn. Tasked with role-playing as campaign managers for a digital marketing agency, they displayed their creativity and strategic expertise before leading executives—ultimately securing the top prize for Mercyhurst.
Rather than entering the entire team in Presentation Pro, Coach Parente strategically positioned Linden and Parks to focus on earning points in other events—a decision that paid off. Parks claimed victory in the Instagram portion of the Viral competition, demonstrating exceptional social media strategy. Meanwhile, Linden finished third out of 28 competitors in the Quantum Quiz Marathon, a high-stakes challenge where participants raced to answer 100 field-related questions.
Meanwhile, Kane expressed gratitude for both the opportunity to compete and the contributions of her team. “It was an honor to represent Mercyhurst alongside my incredible teammates,” she said. “We proved that Mercyhurst can compete with some of the best business programs in the country. I’m proud of our humble approach and desire to push ourselves to the best of our abilities.”
Tonks summed it up this way: “The biggest takeaway from the experience is that a Laker can be anything they set their mind to. I encourage others to take advantage of all that is out there."
PHOTO: Team Mercyhurst (l-r): Marielle Parks, Kalista Linden, Jay Tonks, Lilly Dunn, and Abby Kane.