Coastal Carolina University MBA students Brandon Charpied and Keith Wehrung recently won first place in their category of the Business Strategy Invitational, an online international competition for business students.

Charpied, originally from Farmingdale, N.Y., and Wehrung, of Myrtle Beach, competed against 12 teams in a business simulation in which the students were assigned the task of running an athletic footwear company in head-to-head competition.

The Coastal Carolina University team competed against student teams from institutions with well-respected MBA programs such as the University of Florida, the University of Ottawa, SUNY-Oswego and EM Lyon, a leading international business school in France.

"Keith and I winning the Business Strategy Invitational was by far my proudest achievement during my time here at Coastal Carolina," said Charpied. "This accomplishment shows just how strong our academics are here at CCU and in the Wall College of Business."

"This outstanding performance by our MBA students against domestic and international business programs is recognition of the increasing quality and the work of our faculty and students in the Wall College of Business programs," said Henry Lowenstein, dean of the Wall College of Business.

As a result of their performance, the students from Coastal's E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration will be listed in the event's Hall of Fame. Teams in the Hall of Fame are from Georgia State University, the University of Sydney (Australia), the City University of Hong Kong and others.