COLUMBIA, Mo. – Former Mizzou student-athletes Eric Laurent (Football), Jake Hurell (Football) and Kristen Rivers (Soccer) earned second place at the SEC Student Pitch Competition yesterday, earning a $3,500 cash prize to put towards their business, Roo Storage. Developed by the three Mizzou student-athletes during their time with the Trulaske College of Business, Roo Storage is a startup company that takes a new approach to the age-old problem of storage space.

The Roo Storage Team presented their company last night at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas, on the campus of Texas A&M University. The SEC Student Pitch Competition was a day-long affair during which each SEC University Champion Team (one per university) presented in front of two preliminary round panels of 3-to-5 judges in parallel sessions. This ensured that all teams were seen by the same judges. The judges were all alumni of an SEC school to help keep the scoring as unbiased as possible. Teams were evaluated on the quality of their pitch and the viability of their business.

After the initial round of pitches, it was announced that Roo Storage was one of three finalists. Teams were then allowed 10 minutes for their final pitch with five minutes of Q&A.

After a long deliberation, Arkansas' Lapovations was announced as the 2018 SEC Student Pitch Champion – just edging Roo Storage. Mizzou's team earned a $3,500 cash prize for their second-place finish.

Roo Storage was featured as part of Tiger Scholarship Fund's MizzouMade Monday earlier this year. Read more about their journey by clicking here.