Seton Hill students to pitch shoe concept at national entrepreneurship competition

When the call went out for innovative concepts that could change the way America lives and launch an entrepreneur into the stratosphere, a team of Seton Hill University students jumped.

The five students came-up with a concept they dubbed U-TREKS, an athletic shoe with retractable spikes that could take trail runners safely from smooth forest paths to icy grades littered with loose gravel. Their efforts won the team a slot among 25 finalists in the e-Fest 2019 and Schulze Entrepreneurship Challenge next month in Minneapolis.

There, they will compete against teams from across the country, including Princeton University, Auburn University, James Madison University, Northeastern University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Washington, University of Virginia, and Virginia Tech, for $250,000 in prizes.

The event will include live competition finals and a championship round among the 25 undergraduate student teams for the best ideas for products, services and ventures to bring to the market as well as networking and seminars on entrepreneurship.

The Seton Hill team consists of students Randi Selbekk, a senior business administration — entrepreneurial studies major from Lensvik, Norway; Rachael Bowers, of Jefferson Hills, junior business administration – entrepreneurial studies major.; Taryn Six, of Greensburg, a senior graphic design major; Elizabeth Engel, of Pittsburgh, a junior graphic design major; and Josh Gottlieb, of Jefferson Hills, a junior mathematics major.

The Seton Hill team developed the concept for U-TREKS in an entrepreneurship seminar taught by assistant business professor Lyzona Marshall.