The Pi Kappa Delta National Championship Boise State Speech and Debate team kicked off their 2015-2016 season with a dominating performance at the Fran Tanner Invitational hosted by the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls, Sept. 25-26.
Competing with six other schools from the Northwest, the Talkin’ Broncos took top awards in debate, broke finals in 31 individual events, and placed first in overall sweepstakes.
“This is a rebuilding year, with a lot of new students,” said debate coach and director of forensics Manda Hicks. “Boise State closed out the final rounds of novice debate, informative speaking, impromptu speaking, and program oral interpretation – which means no other school had a finalist in those events. That says a lot about the future of this team.”
In Open British Parliamentary Debate, the team of Taylor Ashe (senior, Star) and Luke Yeates(senior, Boise) were the tournament champions, with Yeates taking the first-place speaker award.
In open division Public Debate, Fred Swanstrum (senior, Kuna) was the tournament champion, with Ryan Orlando (sophomore, San Diego) taking third-place. Swanstrum took the first-place speaker award, with Justin Henry (junior, Kennewick, Washington) taking second-place, Kacie Hoch(sophomore, Boise) taking sixth-place, and Brandon Sams (junior, Mountain Home) placing tenth.
In novice division Public Debate, Scott Ludwig (junior, Pocatello) took first-place, Madison Grady(sophomore, Whitefish, Montana) took second-place, and Janice Witherspoon (freshman, Caldwell) took fourth-place. Speaking awards went to Ludwig, in second-place; Witherspoon, in third-place;Kortni Clements (freshman, Meridian), in fifth-place; and Grady, in tenth-place.
In individual events, Swanstrum led the Talkin’ Broncos in scoring with first-place finishes in program oral interpretation and communication analysis, second-place in persuasive speaking, and fourth-place in poetry interpretation. Mackenzie Moss (sophomore, Boise) took first-place in both after dinner speaking and impromptu speaking, and fourth-place in informative speaking. Orlando took first-place in both persuasive speaking and poetry interpretation. Ashe took first-place in prose interpretation, third-place in informative speaking, fourth-place in program oral interpretation, and was a finalist in poetry interpretation. Yeates took first-place in extemporaneous speaking, second-place in dramatic interpretation, and fourth-place in impromptu speaking. Sams took first-place in informative speaking and was a finalist in extemporaneous speaking.
Other top competitors include: Matt Mudd (junior, Nampa), who took second-place in program oral interpretation and third-place in extemporaneous speaking, impromptu speaking, and poetry interpretation; Alex Floate (junior, Meridian), who took second-place in extemporaneous speaking, third-place in program oral interpretation, and was a finalist in impromptu speaking and informative speaking; Witherspoon, who took second-place in both impromptu speaking and after-dinner speaking;Justin Fields (junior, Star), who took second-place in informative speaking; Brianna Dyer (senior, Caldwell), who took second-place in duo interpretation and third-place in dramatic interpretation; Hoch, who took second-place in duo interpretation; Cyndi Kerr (senior, Attleboro, Massachusetts), who took third-place in prose interpretation; Grady, who took fourth-place in informative speaking and was a finalist in prose interpretation and extemporaneous speaking; Henry, who took fourth-place in persuasive speaking; and Jamie Maas (sophomore, Rapid City, SD), who was a finalist in impromptu speaking.
The Talkin’ Broncos continue on to Lewis & Clark College in Portland, OR, for the first conference tournament of the year Oct. 9-11. The team was the 2015 Pi Kappa Delta National Champions in Speech and Debate and is supported in part through the generosity of the Jeker Family Trust. For more information about the Talkin’ Broncos, contact Hicks, director of forensics at Boise State, atmandahicks@boisestate.edu.
BY: CIENNA MADRID PUBLISHED 11:50 AM / SEPTEMBER 28, 2015