A team of College of Business students earned national recognition after winning the Best Presentation Award at the University of Kansas National Multidisciplinary Case Competition.
Representing the Entrepreneurship Club, the team included Andrew Sapwell, a senior marketing major and club president; Athena Efthemeou, a junior majoring in finance and economics with a minor in business analytics; Ian Prosser, a senior finance major; and Ethan Vicari, a senior double majoring in accounting and finance with a minor in business analytics.
Sapwell, who organized the team and trip, said representing the University on a national stage was a meaningful experience.
“Seeing the Nevada logo mixed in with all the other schools at the competition was motivating,” Sapwell said. “To know I am the one representing my school on the national stage was a cool feeling.”
“Representing the University of Nevada, Reno on a national stage meant a lot,” Efthemeou said. “I think it showed that the University has a lot to bring to the table, even if people don’t know it yet.”
The case required teams to propose a growth strategy for Cava, a fast‑casual Mediterranean restaurant chain. While the brand has a strong presence in the mid‑Atlantic, East Coast and Sun Belt regions, it has limited reach in the western United States.
The team’s award-winning presentation proposed piloting westward expansion in Northern California, using a supply chain–focused approach to protect product quality as the company grows.
Efthemeou said the team was intentional about both the content and delivery of its presentation.
“We went above and beyond with the deliverable itself,” she said. “We made a brochure mockup to hand out to the judges and really leaned into the company’s brand kit. We didn’t just slap stuff onto a template; we were very intentional with our presentation’s design.”
Rather than assigning one speaker per slide, the team chose a more dynamic approach.
“We chose to bounce off each other instead,” Efthemeou said. “It kept the energy up and felt more like a real conversation than a rehearsed pitch.”
Vicari said the team emphasized delivery as much as data.
“We understood that strong data is essential, but we believed that delivery was just as important, if not more so,” Vicari said. “We wanted every section of our pitch to feel intentional.”
The team’s strategy focused on establishing supplier relationships in California’s Central Valley, one of the world’s largest agricultural regions, before expanding into suburban Bay Area markets, followed by growth into Reno, Las Vegas and additional western cities including Seattle, Portland, Phoenix, Salt Lake City and Boise.
During the competition, the team also conducted a phone interview with Cava Chief Development Officer Jeff Gaul, who provided feedback on their proposed strategy.
“He told us we were ‘spot on,’” Vicari said, noting the team used the conversation to refine its recommendations under tight time constraints.
The students credited their success to experience gained through the Entrepreneurship Club, where they regularly work through real‑world business challenges.
“Being in the club has put me in the room with a lot of successful entrepreneurs and even consultants, and those conversations have genuinely shaped how I think about business problems,” Efthemeou said.
Sapwell said the team’s presentation resonated because it emphasized people, not just ideas.
“People don’t invest in projects, they invest in the people behind the project,” he said.
Despite cross-country travel and limited preparation time, the team delivered two presentations to separate panels of judges and ultimately earned a $250 honorary judges’ award for best presentation.
