Oak Harbor High School students Preston Rankin, Eric Jensen and Tyren Perdue finished first in a national DECA competition in the virtual business sports category.

Twelve Oak Harbor students qualified for the competition held in Nashville last week. Nine of those were in the virtual business categories — two teams in sports and two teams in hotel.

The other three students, Hannah Knoll, Resego Mooki and Mara Powers, qualified in School-Based Enterprise where they presented the  operations of the Oak Harbor High School student store and how it compares to other schools in the nation. That team qualified for finals and made it on stage, meaning they finished in the top 20 nationally, said DECA adviser Eric Peterson.

In virtual business hotel, two teams finished in the top eight after two days of a bracket-style competition.

Ryan Valencia finished sixth overall.

The team of Quentin Tungate and Noah Zuniga finished third at the competition, earning a $1,500 prize.

In the virtual business sports category, the team of Taylor Heidt, Krista Alamo, and Maya Krantz advanced through a couple rounds but did not make finals. In the virtual business, students qualify regionally through two competitions online.

This year there were over 38,000 teams that competed for a spot at nationals. Of those, 96 teams advanced and Oak Harbor High School had four of those teams.

At nationals, students have 15 minutes of head-to-head competition with eight teams to see who is most profitable in that time.

In the case of Virtual Business sports, they ran a football franchise, controlling things like promotions, ticket sales, concessions, staffing for a stadium and parking. They must make the most money in one season.

In virtual business hotel they control booking rooms, advertising, parties/group events, staffing, and are trying to get the highest customer satisfaction rating, employee satisfaction, and profit combined.

DECA is the national high school and college student organization focused on business and marketing. The goal of the program is to prepare students to become successful leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality and management.