STATESBORO — Three Parker College of Business logistics students won the Intermodal Association of North America’s (IANA) National Academic Challenge, but this isn’t the first time.

Alecia Breen, Ana Ortiz-Contreras and David Hudgins won with their real-world presentation on fleet allocation and sizing decisions for a ground shipping company at 12 large marine locations around the country.

“The world is a competitive place, and our supply chain management program continues to compete with and win against some of the best programs in the country,” Allen Amason, Ph.D., dean of the Parker College of Business, said in a Monday press release.

Georgia Southern logistics students have won four of the last five IANA-sponsored competitions, but this was the first for Ortiz-Contreras.

“I was pushed to think beyond what I learned in the classroom and apply critical thinking and problem-solving skills to be able to solve the challenge,” Ortiz-Contreras said in the release. “Whenever we weren’t in class or doing homework, we were working on the case.”

“This is workforce development at its finest,” said Marc Scott, Ph.D., assistant professor of logistics and supply chain management and faculty advisor for the team in the Monday release. “IANA is having a significant impact on our students and program, and we are very thankful.”