Rival teams hailed from Lewis and Clark College, Rice University, University of California Berkley, Texas Tech, the University of Oregon, and William Jewell College, among 22 participating colleges.
Junior Jamie Maas (Rapid City, South Dakota) won third place in speaker awards out of 120 competitors in the second half of the tournament. Maas also won 17th in speaker awards during the first half of the competition. Seniors Hailie Johnson-Waskow (Nampa) and her partner Mackenzie Moss (Boise) had winning records for the first part of the tournament, finishing as quarterfinalists. Maas and his partner, sophomore Ximena Bustillo (Nampa), finished as double-octofinalists in that field while also advancing during the second half of the tournament, again finishing as double-octofinalists.
“I am in constant awe of the level of performance I repeatedly witness from our parliamentary teams,” said Luke Yeates, graduate assistant coach. “Final rounds are single elimination. It’s a thin line between success and defeat, a line our teams walk with great determination, earning their spots amongst a field of talented debaters.”
The full Talkin’ Broncos team will finish the conference season at Pacific University the weekend of Jan. 27. The Talkin’ Broncos are the 2016-2017 Pi Kappa Delta national champions in speech and debate and are supported in part by the Jeker Family Trust.
For more information about the team, contacting Manda Hicks at mandahicks@boisestate.edu.
BY: ANNA WEBB PUBLISHED 2:42 PM / JANUARY 23, 2018