Xavier High School BPA Students Compete at 2026 State Leadership Conference

Xavier High School BPA Students Compete at 2026 State Leadership Conference On Saturday, February 14th, 38 XHS Business Professionals of America (BPA) students competed in Des Moines at the 2026 BPA State Leadership Conference. Congratulations to the following Saints on qualifying for Nationals. These Saints will head to Nashville, Tennessee from May 6-10.

2026 National Qualifiers:
Keara Adams: Individual, Banking & Finance
Carter Loecher: Group, Financial Analyst Team 
Charlie Legrand: Group, Financial Analyst Team 
Dane Thomas: Group, Financial Analyst Team 
Ella Westhoff: Individual, Personal Financial Management | Group, Visual Design Team
Preston Feuerbach: Individual, Economic Research Individual | Group, Global Marketing Team
Ben Allard: Group, Administrative Support Team 
Sarah Garbe: Group, Administrative Support Team | Individual, Extemporaneous Speech
Griffen Happel: Group, Administrative Support Team 
Will Baumann: Group, Administrative Support Team
Rachael Marcello: Individual, Information Technology Concepts | Group, Visual Design Team
Shelby Hansen: Group, Visual Design Team
Gabe Leuck: Group, Global Marketing Team
Kate Deegan: Group, Global Marketing Team | Individual, Prepared Speech
Andrew Pladsen: Group, Global Marketing Team
Carson Sorg: Group, Financial Analyst Team | Individual, Linux Operation System Funadamentals

2026 State Leadership Conference Results:
Banking & Finance - Keara Adams: 1st  | Ella Rushton: finalist (6th) 
Financial Analyst Team - Carter Loecher, Charlie Legrand, Carson Sorg and Dane Thomas: 3rd | Shawn Saini, Henry Lagneaux: finalist (6th) 
Personal Financial Management - Ella Westhoff: 3rd 
Economic Research Individual - Preston Feuerbach: 1st 
Financial Math and Analysis Concepts -  Sungmin Park: finalist (9th) Preston Feuerbach: finalist (7th) 
Administrative Support Team - Ben Allard, Sarah Garbe, Griffin Happel, and Will Baumann: 2nd 
Linux Operating System Fundamentals - Carson Sorg: 4th 
Information Technology Concepts - Rachael Marcello: 5th 
Visual Design Team - Shelby Hansen, Rachael Marcello and Ella Westhoff: 3rd 
Global Marketing Team - Preston Feuerbach, Gabe Leuck, Kate Deegan, and Andrew Pladsen: 2nd 
Entrepreneurship - Chris Hounkponou: finalist (4th) Sungmin Park: finalist (5th) Small Business Management Team - Sungmin Park, Ella Rushton & Keara Adams: finalist (5th) 
Extemporaneous Speech - Sarah Garbe: 1st (three time finalist, 3rd 2024, 2-time state champ) 
Prepared Speech - Kate Deegan: 1st (four time finalist, second time state champ) Meeting and Event Planning Concepts - Ella Westhoff: finalist (8th) Management, Marketing and HR Concepts - Sungmin Park: finalist (6th) 
Health Administration Procedures - Shelby Hansen: finalist (7th) 
Health Research Presentation - Katie Allard: finalist (4th)