Guillaume Bienaime, Michael Finnen, Nic Manning, Brittany Tanelli, John Paul Carmona.

Student Olympic Team

competition before jwu | student olympic team | for enrolled students | faculty achievements

Students like you comprised J&W's 2004 Student Culinary Olympic Team; more than a year of preparation paid off for them in October 2004, when the team won a bronze medal for its display at the IKA International Culinary Art Competition—widely known as the Culinary Olympics—in Erfurt, Germany. While the team was made up of undergraduate students, the group entered as a professional regional team against 52 competitors in the cold food division.

"For the students to have received medals—judged along with professionals, no less—is a testament to their skill and dedication,” said Karl Guggenmos ’92, ’02 MBA, university dean of culinary education. Indeed, coach Uta Schepers ’03 estimated that each student put in 1,200 hours of practice time—added up, that’s more than 250 days in the kitchen: more than eight months of painstaking care, of sleep loss, of non-stop thinking about how to make each entry even better.

The team competed in the cold food division, which included the following categories: finger food hot/cold, three-course menu, game platter for eight, six individual appetizers, four individual main courses, vegetarian platter, four individual desserts, three cakes, petit four platter with showpieces.

Student team members included senior Guillaume Bienaime and junior John Paul Carmona from California; junior Michael Finnen from New York; junior Nicholas Manning from Washington; and sophomore Brittany Tanelli from New Jersey.

While training for the Culinary Olympics, the team entered several regional competitions in the United States, winning each one. They received guidance from several J&W medal-winning coaches, who put in countless hours of supervision and suggestions. They triumphed at the American Culinary Federation national convention in July, taking the Student Team of the Year title.

While training for the Culinary Olympics, they won regional competitions throughout the U.S. and triumphed at the American Culinary Federation national convention in July, taking the Student Team of the Year title. The students received much guidance from their coaches, who put in countless hours of supervision and advice. They included chefs Joseph Leonardi ’97, ’99 MAT, George O’Palenick ’81, ’88 MS, Uta Schepers, Mark Soliday, Gill Stansfield ’94 and Robert Zielinski ’75. Three of the coaches entered categories on an individual basis as well, and all came home with medals.

The Vollrath Company, L.L.C. provided financial support as well as cookware to the team. Tyson Foods Inc., was also a sponsor of the 2004 J&W Student Culinary Olympics team through its Tyson Foods Commitment to Education for Generations partnership with the university.