The 2025 Business Professionals of America (BPA) State Leadership Conference was held March 6-8 and saw over 2,000 members compete from 80 chapters across the state, and the Triton High School chapter came away with a truly dominant performance. Triton crowned a historic and whopping 10 State Champions, including the first ever 2X State Champion, 14 National Trip Winners, and 14 Top 10 Finishers.
“I honestly can’t find the words to describe everything I’m feeling right now,” said Advisor Rebecca Goossens. “We had a third of our chapter who just won State, almost 50% won trips to Nationals, and roughly 85% of our students competing placed in the Top 10. I’m just awestruck.”
Katya Wheeler became the first ever Triton 2X State Champion in Computer Modeling, and Ashley Romero had the distinction of being crowed a “Double” State Champion by winning both Advanced Desktop Publishing and Website Design Team along with teammates Anyely Dominguez-Marquez, Bryar Quimby, and Alisson Velasco. Also claiming the top title were Salma Fernandez for Fundamental Desktop Publishing, the Global Marketing Team of Corey Lilledahl and Camila Medina, and Logan Skjeveland for the MN Trading Pin Design Contest. Vika Kundel in Fundamental Spreadsheet and Abigail Wirkus in Health Administration Procedures claimed spots as State Runner-Ups, and Bryar Quimby’s third-place performance in Graphic Design and AJ Kozisek’s fifth place in Payroll Accounting rounded out Triton’s National Trip Winners. Also gracing the stage at the Grand Awards Ceremony were Abrielle Emanuel in Administrative Support Research Project, the Broadcast News Team of Holly Harvey, Diego Ibarra-Castillo, EJ Okeefe, and Alan Ortiz, AJ Kozisek in Financial Math & Analysis, Frankie Gann in Graphic Design, Genevieve Starkson in Health Administration Procedures, Vika Kundel in Payroll Accounting, Corey Lilledahl and Logan Skjeveland in Presentation Individual, and the Website Design Team of Dora Chable, RoseLyn Liudahl, and Jade Scovill.
“We have such a rich and successful BPA track record at Triton that I think our students sometimes forget how just qualifying for State is a huge accomplishment itself,” said Goossens. “This level of success is uncommon for other schools, and I’m just so, so proud of all our members on their achievements, no matter their results.”
BPA’s competitive events program allows students to compete in nearly 70 events focused in the areas of business administration, finance & accounting, information technology, video production, human resources, computer programming, graphic design, marketing & entrepreneurship, and health services. The competitions are designed to prepare students to succeed and assess real-world business skills and problem-solving abilities. After qualifying earlier this year, regional winners put their talents to the test during the State Leadership Conference.
This May, Dominguez-Marquez, Fernandez, Kozisek, Kundel, Lilledahl, Medina, Quimby, Romero, Skjeveland, Velasco, Wheeler, and Wirkus will travel to Orlando, FL to compete with thousands of top students from across the United States, Puerto Rico, and internationally at the 60th Annual National Leadership Conference – the pinnacle of BPA competition.
Back Row: Jade Scovill, RoseLyn Liudahl, Holly Harvey, Miley Dostal, Diego Ibarra-Castillo, Vika Kundel, Broden Dicke, Frankie Gann, EJ Okeefe, Abigail Wirkus, Salma Fernandez, Logan Skjeveland, Angel Mata Colin, Hector Ibarra, Alan Oritz, Ollie Akkerman, Anna Anderson, Jessica Hukee, Abrielle Emanuel
Front Row: Genevieve Starkson, AJ Kozisek, Alisson Velasco, Anyely Dominguez-Marquez, Katya Wheeler, Camila Medina, Corey Lilledahl, Ashley Romero, Bryar Quimby
Abrielle Emanuel and Jessica Hukee prepare for their events
Anna Anderson, Ollie Akkerman, and RoseLyn Liudahl serve as State Officer Voting Delegates
Frankie Gann and Logan Skjeveland show off their projects
Global Marketing Team State Champions Camila Medina and Corey Lilledahl
State Champion in Fundamental Desktop Publishing Salma Fernandez
Katya Wheeler becomes a 2X State Champion in Computer Modeling
Alisson Velasco, Bryar Quimby, Ashley Romero, and Anyely Dominguez-Marquez win Website Design Team
Ashley Romero was is a double State Champion in Advanced Desktop Publishing and Website Design Team
Vika Kundel is State Runner-Up in Spreadsheet
State Runner-Up Abigail Wirkus in Health Admin Procedures
AJ Kozisek places fifth in Payroll Accounting
Ortiz, Ibarra-Castillo, Harvey, and Okeefe place in Top 10 for Broadcast News
RoseLyn Liudahl, Dora Chable, and Jade Scovill earn Top 10 honors in Website Design Team
