The Boise State University Speech and Debate team continued their 2023-2024 season with a first-place sweepstakes win in individual events and a second-place overall finish at the Steve Hunt Classic hosted by Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, Oct. 13 – 15. The tournament included competitors from Texas, Illinois, Louisiana, Wyoming, Utah, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Vermont.
In Open Public Debate, Sara Beck (senior, Idaho Falls) finished as a semi-finalist and received the seventh-place speaker award, while Ben Smoldon (senior, Nampa) received the first-place speaker award and finished as an octofinalist. In Junior Public Debate, Bridget Gibson (freshman, Boise) advanced through three elimination rounds to finish second-place at the tournament. Gibson also received the ninth-place speaker award. Anthony Thomas (sophomore, Meridian) and Allie Hampton (sophomore, Meridian) both finished as semi-finalists, with Hampton receiving the sixth-place speaker award. Adam Pendergrass (freshman, Nampa) and Jaxon Holmes (freshman, Garden City) both finished as octo-finalists, with Holmes receiving the fourth-place speaker award and Pendergrass receiving the second-place speaker award.
In Individual Events, Hampton led the Talkin’ Broncos with a first-place finish in persuasive speaking and second-place in both junior program oral interpretation and extemporaneous speaking. Pendergrass took first-place in junior extemporaneous speaking, second-place in junior informative speaking, and third-place in duo interpretation. Ivan Markevych (freshman, Kremenchuk, Poltava region, Ukraine) took first-place in novice persuasive speaking and second-place in novice extemporaneous speaking. Angel Dang (freshman, Idaho Falls) took first-place in novice extemporaneous speaking and fifth-place in junior informative speaking.
Other top competitors included: Sam Kleman (freshman, Boise), who took second-place in both junior impromptu and novice poetry interpretation; Thomas, who took third-place in junior extemporaneous speaking and fifth-place in both junior after-dinner speaking and impromptu speaking; Beck, who took third-place in informative speaking and fifth-place in extemporaneous speaking; Holmes, who took third-place in junior impromptu speaking and fourth-place in persuasive speaking; Smoldon, who took third-place in duo interpretation and sixth-place in prose interpretation; Lillie Young (freshman, Boise), who took fourth-place in junior impromptu speaking; Gibson, who took fifth-place in junior extemporaneous speaking; and Alison Hurst (senior, Boise), who took sixth-place in extemporaneous speaking.
The Talkin’ Broncos continue their 2023-2024 season with their second designated conference tournament, the Mahaffey Memorial, hosted by Linfield College in McMinville, Oregon. The Talkin’ Broncos are supported in part through the generosity of the Jeker Family Trust. For more information about the Talkin’ Broncos, contact Dr. Manda Hicks, director of forensics at Boise State at mandahicks@boisestate.edu.