Baylor University Secures Back-to-Back Wins at the 2025 Great Northwoods Sales Warmup

For the second consecutive year, Baylor University claimed the first-place team finish at the 2025 Great Northwoods Sales Warmup (GNW), hosted by the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire. This top honor was earned through the outstanding performance of all three Baylor competitors, each placing in the top ten.

The GNW competition featured student teams from 28 universities, focusing on sales of grocery products distributed through retail channels. Representing Baylor’s Professional Selling program were seniors Annabelle Johnson and Piya Patel, along with junior Celeste Derstine. Their impressive individual finishes—Annabelle in 6th, Celeste in 7th, and Piya in 10th out of 84 competitors—secured Baylor’s overall team victory. Supporting the competitors were student coaches Evan Bass, Emily Jones, and Jack Sargent, whose guidance played a key role in the team’s success.

“The Great Northwoods competition allowed me to challenge myself and elevate my sales abilities to a higher level,” shared Annabelle Johnson. “Preparing for this competition involved hours of refining my sales approach, practicing role plays with my coaches, and developing confidence in adapting to new scenarios. Through this experience, I further developed my skills, strengthened relationships with Baylor student coaches and competitors, and built new connections with students and professionals from other universities and companies. This incredible opportunity for student growth would not have been possible without the Baylor ProSales program and the GNW organizers.”

Serving as the team’s faculty coach, Dr. Andrea Dixon reflected on the team’s achievement: “I claimed that last year’s GNW competition team was the best student coaching team I’ve had the pleasure to work with. This year’s student coaches and competitors now hold that #1 spot in my 16 years of sales competition coaching experience. These six students exhibited the best combination of collaboration and competitive spirit, creating the recipe for the team’s success. I am incredibly proud of them.”

Participating universities included Arizona State University, Aurora University, Baylor University, Boise State University, Clemson University, Florida State University, Illinois State University, Kansas State University, Kennesaw State University, Louisiana State University, Marquette University, Middle Tennessee State University, North Dakota State University, Texas A&M University, University of Central Florida, University of Cincinnati, University of Denver, University of Minnesota Duluth, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, University of Nebraska Omaha, University of New Mexico,  University of North Alabama, University of Texas at Dallas,  University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire,  University of Wisconsin- La Crosse, University of Wisconsin- Whitewater, University of Wyoming, Utah State University

About the Center for Professional Selling
Dedicated to excellence in sales education and based in the university’s Hankamer School of Business, the Center for Professional Selling is recognized as one of the premier global information resources for the sales profession. For more information on the Center for Professional Selling, visit https://sites.baylor.edu/prosales/.