Photo: (Left to right) Undergrad winners: Ishan Kinikar, Lev Sarian, Atul Venkatesh; Grad winners: Kendall Ruth, Josh Southwick, Douglas Fenwick
Durham, N.C., Nov. 19, 2024 – SMT (SportsMEDIA Technology), a leader in real-time data delivery, tracking technology, graphics presentation and tracking technology for sports and entertainment, is proud to announce the winners of its 2024 Data Challenge, a marquee competition that gives aspiring data analysts the opportunity to showcase their talent and connect with industry leaders. Now in its third year, the challenge has become a springboard for careers in sports analytics, with past participants landing roles with more than a dozen top organizations, including the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, Milwaukee Bucks, Houston Texans and Indiana Fever.
This year’s competition, which began on May 27, attracted 232 participants from six countries and 26 U.S. states. The competition provides students with real-world minor league baseball ball- and player-tracking data from SMT’s 6th Tool application, challenging them to produce innovative solutions to pressing questions in the game. SMT’s 6th tool is an optical computer vision system that compiles a digital record of data such as player positions, ball trajectories and timing of events that is used at 22 universities throughout the U.S., including Texas A&M, Florida and N.C. State.
After extensive evaluation by 75 industry judges, three finalist teams from both the Undergraduate and Graduate divisions were selected to advance to the final round. The finalists presented their groundbreaking projects as the culmination of a VIP weekend in Durham, N.C., from November 16-18. The event included exclusive opportunities, such as a behind-the-scenes peek into SMT’s puck-and-player tracking system at a Carolina Hurricanes game, a tour of the Durham Bulls Athletic Park and a private presentation event judged by industry experts, including Durham Bulls GM Tyler Parsons and SMT Founder and CEO Gerard J. Hall.
“This year’s SMT Data Challenge participants outdid themselves, and the projects were outstanding! Similarly, our judges were incredible; it’s an honor to have so many talented people give their time and energy,” said Meredith Wills, SMT’s Senior Data Scientist. “Every year, our goal is to push the boundaries of how we challenge students, and year after year, they rise to the occasion.”
2024 SMT Data Challenge Winners
- Graduate Division Winner
Team 106: Kendall Ruth, Douglas Fenwick, and Joshua Southwick
Project: Swing That Way – An Analysis into a Batter’s Push-Pull Tendency
- Undergraduate Division Winner
Team 73: Atul Venkatesh, Ishan Kinikar, and Levon Sarian
Project: Pitcher Dynamics xPLained – Creating a Model That Determines When to Pull a Starting Pitcher
Finalist Bios
Undergraduate Division:
- Team 5: Searching for Cal – An Analysis of Shortstop Range
Justin Choi (Washington University in St. Louis): Stats major; contributor to FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus.
- Team 60: Evaluating Outfielder Route Efficiency and Paths
Brett Cerenzio (Syracuse University): Senior studying Sport Analytics; SMT 6th Tool Operator; former Detroit Tigers affiliate intern.
- Team 73: Pitcher Dynamics xPLained
Atul Venkatesh (Dartmouth): Data science major, head of research for Dartmouth Sports Analytics.
Ishan Kinikar (UMass Amherst): CS major with experience in machine learning and financial algorithms.
Levon Sarian (Dartmouth): Computer Science student, AI data analysis enthusiast.
Graduate Division:
- Team 106: Swing That Way – Batter’s Push-Pull Tendency
Kendall Ruth (University of Utah): Data science master’s student specializing in Python and R.
Douglas Fenwick (University of Utah): Expert in machine learning and neural networks.
Joshua Southwick (University of Utah): Chemistry grad with a focus on computational data science.
- Team 119: Stolen Base Attempts by Pitcher Release Times
Jordan Heller (Ohio University): MBA/MSA student with a background in sports marketing.
Cameron Spaulding (Ohio University): Dual MBA/MSA degree candidate; Ohio University Baseball Manager.
Kenneth Fung (USC): Business Analytics master’s student and former Hong Kong soccer national youth team member.
- Team 130: Million Dollar Reversal – Baseball Data for Cricket Talent
Ramon Sanchez (San Diego State University): Physics master’s student and teaching assistant.