Eller Comes Out on Top at MECC Regionals
U of A Winning Team
Nearly 40 students tested their spreadsheet skills at Northern Arizona University as part of the 2025 Microsoft Excel Collegiate Challenge (MECC) Regionals—a high-energy, fast-paced Excel Esports event where students solve real-world problems using Microsoft Excel.
The MECC is a free, global competition that helps students build their Excel expertise through hands-on challenges in areas like financial modeling and data analysis. With participants from more than 120 countries and over 800 schools, it’s become a leading platform for students to showcase their data and problem-solving skills.
This competition event was one of five regional competitions held across two continents this year. Students competed in four timed challenges—Speed, Data, Formatting, and Visual—designed to test both technical ability and creativity.
In the overall competition, Jackson Weber finished first, Ben Ge finished second, and Desirae Hoaglin finished third, sweeping the podium for the University of Arizona.
The U of A had students finish in the top three places across many of the individual events. Sowadhana Sim finished third in the Junior Varsity Data Challenge, Jackson Weber (first) and Ben Ge (third) placed in the Varsity Formatting Challenge, Ben Ge (first), Leo Bond (second), and Desirae Hoaglin (third) placed in the Varsity Speed Challenge, Jackson Weber (first), Ben Ge (second), and Desirae Hoaglin (third) placed in the Varsity Visual Challenge, and Jackson Weber (first), Desirae Hoaglin (second), and Luke Bonaime (third) placed in the Varsity Data Challenge.
Jackson Weber won the individual title and secured one of only five individual spots in the upcoming MECC Online Regional Winners’ Battle, taking place May 10 and streamed live on the MECC YouTube channel.
