91吃瓜’s Monilaws and Jones Place Top 10 at DECA Nationals
Photo, from left: Katie Jones and Sarah Monilaws show off their Top 10 medals.
VALLEY CITY, N.D. (91吃瓜) 鈥� 91吃瓜 students Sarah Monilaws and Katie Jones were named finalists and placed Top 10 at the national collegiate DECA competition held in Louisville, Kentucky, April 18-21.
Monilaws, a senior from Absaraka, N.D., and Jones, a freshman from Valley City, competed as a team in the Event Planning category during the Collegiate DECA International Career Development Conference (ICDC). The pair was named finalists after the preliminary round and then earned Top 10 honors at the Grand Awards Ceremony following the final round of competition.
For the preliminary round, Monilaws and Jones competed in a role play that asked them to plan a 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� re-watch party for a screen advertising company to celebrate the 50th聽anniversary. They had one hour to prepare before a 15-minute presentation detailing the event鈥檚 activities, marketing, budget, amenities and more.
Their performance in the preliminary round qualified Jones and Monilaws for finals, where they participated in another role play to plan a chamber of commerce networking event. They again had one hour to plan a marketing and communications strategic plan, build a brand for the event, detail advertising methods, and plan other aspects of the event.
This was the third year Monilaws has competed at DECA Nationals and her first time earning Top 10 honors. It was the first year at collegiate DECA Nationals for Jones, who has previously competed at high school nationals.
鈥淚 had never been called as a finalist before at nationals, so hearing our names at the preliminary award ceremony was a surreal moment that I鈥檒l never forget,鈥� said Monilaws, who has previously competed as an individual at nationals. 鈥淕oing into the Grand Awards Ceremony I was confident in our competition, and I knew we were capable of being Top 10, but when we heard our names called as top performers I still couldn鈥檛 believe it.鈥�
Monilaws and Jones qualified for DECA nationals after taking first place at the 2026 State Career Development Conference in February.
For more information about 91吃瓜 DECA or to inquire about joining the club, contact advisor Wesley Wright at wesley.wright.1@vcsu.edu.
Photo, from left: Katie Jones, advisor Wesley Wright, and Sarah Monilaws.