Students from eight colleges and universities converged at Metro last weekend to vie for the regional championship of a business finance competition that was sponsored by the Metro chapter of Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE).

In the competition, each team was given a hypothetical case study about a family in financial distress. Competitors were given 36 hours to research the situation and design a reasonable, workable and creative solution to the dilemma, based on the family's situation, economics, geography and resources.

The teams arrived in Denver on Thursday evening; they were addressed by local columnist and talk show host Reggie Rivers and then received their case study packets. They were given until Saturday morning to devise and present their solutions. The panel of judges conferred and presented their decisions at an awards luncheon on Saturday.

The team from Chadron State University won the competition, followed by Kansas State University, Pepperdine University, California State University-Chico, CSU-Pueblo, and Newman State University. Metro, as host of the event, did not compete, but will be given a slot at the national competition, to be held March 10-13 in Tucson.

Metro's SIFE sponsor, marketing Professor Mick Jackowski, credited SIFE student president Todd Zinck with the success of the event. "Todd did an excellent job organizing this competition. Our hosting was so well-received that we're looking to put in a bid to host the regional competition again in 2006."