In a thrilling final game, a team of three students from the Craig School of Business at California State University, Fresno defeated two-time defending champion CSU Stanislaus in the Pacific West Regional Human Resource Management Games (HR Games), held April 5 at CSU Long Beach.
Trisha Pfister, Suzy Kazaryan and Erik Holland of Fresno State ranked third after a round-robin competition and then in a semi-final round eliminated one Stanislaus squad from the competition. The Fresno State team moved onto the finals to play against the other top-ranked CSU Stanislaus team.
The matchup proved to be one of the most competitive matches in the history of the HR Games regional finals. Halfway through the event, Fresno State trailed 4,200 to 2,300. In the second half, Fresno State battled back and took a lead late only to lose it with less than five questions left on the board. Down by 100 points with one 200-point question remaining, the Fresno State team “rang-in” before the Stanislaus team and correctly answered the question to win 7,500 to 7,400.
Dr. Rudy Sanchez, one of the Fresno State coaches said, “I have been part of the HR Games since 2001 and that final match was the closest, most exciting match I have ever seen. I am so happy for our students and proud of the way they have prepared and competed.”
A second Fresno State team also competed in the semi-finals but lost to the Stanislaus team that advanced to the finals.
The HR Games are sponsored by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). The top four teams from the round-robin tournament competed in the semifinals. Teams from Portland State University, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Hawaii Pacific University, University of Nevada at Reno, Boise State, Long Beach State, San Jose State and Stanislaus took part.
The competition is conducted in a “Jeopardy”-style format to test students’ knowledge in areas of management practices, employee selection, labor and employee relations, compensation and benefits, training and development, and safety and health.
Fresno State’s other team of Vanig Panosian, Jennifer Holmes and Brian Jenkins compiled five wins and two losses to claim a spot in the final four. The team struggled in the semifinal round match, losing to the Stanislaus that moved onto the championship match.
The students from the winning team receive scholarship money and a trip to the national SHRM conference in Chicago in late June, when they will be honored at a session attended by more than 13,000 human resource professionals.
The victory makes the Fresno State team one of the top five HR Games teams in the country. The success of the both Fresno State teams completes a semester’s worth of hard work and intensive studying for these six students.
In addition to Sanchez, Fresno State’s other coaches are Dr. Brian Lyons and Dr. Jill Bradley.
The 2008 regional championship adds to an impressive record of accomplishment by Craig School of Business students. Fresno State teams have qualified all nine years of the regional competition, winning a total of four regional titles. Fresno State has won two National Championships (which is no longer conducted). Fresno State teams have competed in all 15 years of state competition, placing teams in the top three all but one year.
For more information, contact: Sanchez at 559-681.6224 Liliana Castillo, student chapter public relations chair, at 559.313.9110.
