The Boise State Speech and Debate team continued their undefeated 2015-2016 season with a huge win at the 85th annual Mahaffey Memorial Tournament Nov. 13–15 in McMinville, Oregon.
The Talkin’ Broncos took top awards in debate and had six of the tournament’s top ten individual events competitors in both divisions.
Competitors hailed from Gonzaga University, Linfield College, Oregon State University, Seattle Pacific, College of Idaho, University of Oregon, University Of Washington, Utah State University, Northwest Nazarene University and 26 other schools.
“This is a northwest institution and it is such an honor to win the tournament,” said Director of Forensics Manda Hicks. “Boise State had a tremendous showing with a very young team and I’m still a little shocked by how swiftly they pulled ahead of the other schools – Boise State may very well have set a tournament record for awards.”
In open public debate, Fred Swanstrum (senior, Kuna) was the tournament champion, going undefeated through four final rounds of debate. Justin Henry (junior, Kennewick, Washington) finished as a quarter-finalist, and Brandon Sams (junior, Mountain Home) finished as an octo-finalist. Swanstrum received the second-place speaking award and Sams received the seventh-place speaking award. In junior public debate, Janice Witherspoon (freshman, Caldwell) took second place overall at the tournament, with both Kacie Hoch (junior, Boise) and Scott Ludwig (junior, Pocatello) finishing as semi-finalists, and Kortni Clements (freshman, Meridian) finishing as a quarter-finalist. Clements received the second-place speaking award, Witherspoon received the third-place speaking award, and Ludwig received the seventh-place speaking award. In open parliamentary debate, the team of Ryan Orlando (junior, Meridian) and Jamie Maas (sophomore, Rapid City, South Dakota) were quarter-finalists and the team of Mackenzie Moss (sophomore, Boise) and Hailie Johnson-Waskow (sophomore, Nampa) were octo-finalists, with Orlando winning the fourth-place speaker award, Johnson-Waskow winning the sixth-place speaker award, and Moss winning the seventh-place speaker award.
In individual events, Swanstrum led the Talkin’ Broncos in scoring with a first-place finish in program oral interpretation, a second place-finish in both impromptu speaking and poetry interpretation, a third-place finish in communication analysis, and fourth-place finish in prose interpretation. Witherspoon took first-place in both after dinner speaking and impromptu speaking, third-place in poetry interpretation, and fifth-place in prose interpretation. Moss took first-place in both extemporaneous speaking and persuasive speaking, fourth-place in after dinner speaking and fifth-place in communication analysis. Luke Yeates (senior, Boise) took first-place in prose interpretation, second-place in dramatic interpretation, and third-place in impromptu speaking. Ludwig took first-place in both persuasive speaking and prose interpretation. Maas took first-place in extemporaneous speaking and second-place in persuasive speaking. Cyndi Kerr (senior, Attleboro, Massachusetts) took first-place in prose interpretation and fifth-place in dramatic interpretation. Other top competitors include: Orlando, who took second-place in persuasive speaking, after-dinner speaking, and presidential-style debate, and third-place in program oral interpretation; Matt Mudd (junior, Nampa), who took second-place in program oral interpretation and third-place in poetry interpretation; Andde Mendez (junior, Nampa), who took second-place in program oral interpretation and third-place in after-dinner speaking; Taylor Ashe (senior, Star), who took second-place in informative speaking, fifth-place in poetry interpretation, and sixth-place in program oral interpretation; Sams, who took second-place in communication analysis; Maddie Grady (sophomore, Whitefish, Montana), who took second-place in informative speaking and fifth-place in after dinner speaking; Brianna Dyer (senior, Caldwell), who took third-place in both dramatic interpretation and duo interpretation; Hoch, who took third-place in duo interpretation; Cate Floate (junior, Meridian), who took fourth-place in both informative speaking and program oral interpretation; Clements, who took fourth-place in informative speaking; Johnson-Waskow, who took fifth-place in persuasive speaking and sixth-place in dramatic interpretation; Justin Fields (junior, Star), who took fifth-place in extemporaneous speaking; and Henry, who took sixth-place in persuasive speaking.
The Talkin’ Broncos were recognized for individual achievements as well, with Witherspoon winning the Marshall Award. The award recognizes the top novice/junior competitor at the tournament.
The Talkin’ Broncos finish the conference season at Pacific University in January. The Talkin’ Broncos are the 2015-2016 Pi Kappa Delta National Champions in Speech and Debate and are supported in part through the generosity of the Jeker Family Trust. For more information about the Talkin’ Broncos, contact Hicks at mandahicks@boisestate.edu.
BY: CIENNA MADRID PUBLISHED 4:44 PM / NOVEMBER 17, 2015