A team of Freeman School MBA students won first place in the 2010 KeyBank Foundation Minority MBA Case Competition.

The competition, sponsored by KeyBank and coordinated by Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business, took place on Feb. 27 at KeyBank’s corporate headquarters in Cleveland.

From left to right, KeyBank’s Margot Copeland, Juan Molina (MBA ’11), Luiz Barros (MBA ’11), Mario Coronel (MBA ’11), KeyBank’s Bob DeAngelis and Olcan Moncayo (MBA ’11).

Freeman students Luiz Barros, Mario Coronel, Juan Molina and Olcan Moncayo earned the top prize of $6,000 for developing and presenting solutions to make KeyBank’s online banking service a better experience for customers. In winning the competition, the Freeman students beat out teams representing 18 prestigious universities, including Carnegie Mellon, Case Western Reserve, Indiana, Texas and Penn State.

“The Tulane University team presented a compelling, innovative and strategic solution that responds to a fast-paced, challenging business climate,” said Bob DeAngelis, executive vice president at KeyBank. “I’m encouraged by the level of talent and diversity represented by MBA students from across the country. Many of their winning solutions offer fresh perspectives to complex business issues.”

Based in Cleveland, KeyCorp is one of the nation’s largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $93 billion. Key companies provide investment management, retail and commercial banking, consumer finance, and investment banking products and services to individuals and companies throughout the United States and, for certain businesses, internationally.