The contingent of the University of Syracuse at the National Championship of Sports Analysis Collegiate Axs in Nashville, Tennessee. From left to right, undergraduate director of the Sport Analytics program and Professor Rodney Paul, undergraduate student Hunter Geise, graduate student Owen Brown, undergraduate students Piper Evans and Madelyn Forster, graduate student Andrew Odnoralo and undergraduate student Jonah Soos.
After students of the University of Syracuse Sport Sports program won consecutive undergraduate team titles AxS National Collegiate Sports Analytics Championship In 2023-24, the program had only one mountain to climb: an individual championship.
At the end of last month in Nashville, Tennessee, sports analysis Major Jonah Soos ’25 reached this summit by Win the championship in the first cycle trade analysis division.
“It was great,” said Soos. “Whenever you can win a national event of this caliber against a steep competition, it is an incredibly valid feeling for the work you have put.
“I was so proud to represent Syracuse and the sports analysis program and all the time and the efforts they have devoted to the culture of the best amounts of sport in sport,” added Soos.
The undergraduate team of Syracuse University of Soos, Piper Evans, Madelyn Forster and Hunter Geise has just missed a three peat by finishing a second second against the champions of the team of the University of Iowa. The students in analysis of the graduates Andrew Odnoralov and Owen B. Brown also participated in the Syracuse competition.
Director and undergraduate teacher Sports Analytics Rodney Paul and coordinator of the sports analysis program Jackie Dorchester Accompanied by Nashville and supervised students the group, and Soos congratulated Paul, Dorchester, and the director of corporate partnerships and external commitment Francesco Riverso To “make opportunities like these, a possibility”.
“Our group did an excellent job in a stimulating and exciting event,” explains Paul. “Jonas, as always, was incredible; Calm and ready in the heat of the competition. It’s really a superstar because it makes it so easy. You can almost see “the game” slow down when you hear it present and see the literal art that it creates with the data. It’s amazing to assist.
SOOS, which is mirbles in economics and sports management, has worked as a baseball analysis trainee at Wasserman, a baseball talent agency, and is currently data engineering trainee for the male basketball team at the University of Syracuse. Last August, after having presented his research on the SEMINAR saber launchers in Chicago, SOOS was hired by the Cincinnati Reds as a baseball analysis trainee for the 2025 season.
We contacted Soos to find out more about his experience in Nashville and what it took to become national champion. Here is this conversation:
Q: What was the format for individual and team competitions in the national championship?
Jonah is sober with the trophy he won for winning the first cycle business analysis division
A: It was created in a March Madness style medium, starting with 64 students in 16 different cycles of four students, and two students advanced each turn. Points have been awarded for the teams for each round of an advanced student and totalized on each section (first cycle and graduate) once the competition ended to create the team’s classification.
As a student, we introduced ourselves to a judges at each turn, and if we are selected in the first two, we went to other students to a last Final Four of the whole conference.
Q: What was your “assignment” and you have warned what you would do?
A: Our assignment was to analyze the data of PWHL (Professional Women’s Hockey League) provided by Zoomph to create analytical information on the ways in which the brand can continue to grow and develop. We were provided samples and a study guide in advance to think about the question and understand the data. Most of the questions about the study guide were very wide and designed to give a lot of flexibility to interpretation and analysis, leading to the real assignment of data creation interpretation to find critical data -based information.
Q: What was your reaction when you received your mission?
A: I really had the impression that the competition was playing in my strength. My favorite part of data analysis is the narrative component – the data of placing in context to find usable information and key dishes that everyone can understand. In this format with quick presentations and a limited time, you must really be at your best and cut the stuffed animals, giving the judges only quick to make a coherent story.
Q: Can you explain the type of data you received, what you needed to analyze and how did you do this?
A: We have received data from different social media platforms for each monitoring team of the PWHL team, commitment and specific effects for the platform. We were given about four hours to create data -based information and build a presentation before everything was locked and no modification could be made.
Q: How were the data judged and how was it determined that you were the undergraduate champion?
A: The first round was definitely the most difficult; You had never given your presentation before and you had very little preparation time. Over the laps, I was in a state of flow and I felt each time my presentation became stronger and stronger until the final. The last round, unlike the previous ones, was a winner of the four students who progressed in the elite eight. The judges then voted on the order of the presentations of the Final Four, and I was lucky to be crowned champion.
Q: According to your experiences at the University of Syracuse and Falk College, what is the program prepares you to have this kind of success at the national level?
A: The sports analysis program revolutionizes education in sport. To have the opportunity to interact so frequently with the former industry, to learn using real data and to practice and compete with peers to build a collective wealth of knowledge, this is what leads us to win all these competitions. I learned so much from everyone around me – my peers, mentors, teachers and industry professionals – and without this experience, there is no way I am where I am.
To read the full story, visit the Falk website. To find out more academic programs, experiential learning and career possibilities in sports analysis, visit Falk College Website of the Ministry of Sport Management.