Speech and Debate Team Takes 3rd-Place Team Sweepstakes at Conference Meet
October 17, 2019
The Utah State University Speech and Debate Team competed in its first conference-designated tournament of the season at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Ore., earning the third-place team sweepstakes award in debate.
The Oct. 11-13 event is one of the oldest continuously running tournaments in the United States and attracted schools from as far away as Texas and Minnesota, said head coach Chantelle Gossner. Aggies tied with Whitworth University in Spokane, Wash., for third place overall in debate and students earned several individual awards.
“A third of the USU students who competed at this tournament are brand-new to collegiate debate,” said Gossner. “This is an exciting achievement for any team, but particularly for one this young and composed of only nine debaters.”
Individual students demonstrated their skill in a wide variety of speech events, said Gossner. Brock Redman, a junior studying Biochemistry, earned the senior division championship in After Dinner Speaking, as well as second place in senior division informative speaking.
Redman said he relished winning the senior division championship, but he has also gained important skills. As a science student, he said, debate has helped him “learn how to describe complicated topics in simple and approachable ways, and how to speak in a way others find interesting and compelling.”
Other Aggie winners were:
Kaleb Webb, a senior in Communication Studies, won third place in senior persuasive speaking.
Naomi Ward, a senior in Journalism and Communication, won sixth place in senior division informative speaking, as well as fourth in open division.
Exploratory major Bryant Saunders, a freshman, represented USU as the champion in the novice division of information speaking. Political Science major Bryn Voigt, a freshmen, received third place in the same category. She also won third place in junior division for informational speaking.
Receiving speaker awards in novice division were senior Communication Studies student Annie Hayes and freshman Exploratory major Amrutha Obulasetty, in third and eighth places respectively.
In junior division, senior Communication Studies major Rachael Teare earned eighth place.
Additionally, said Gossner, Saunders and Teare advanced to the quarterfinal round of the tournament; Redman and Ward competed in the semifinals; and Hayes made it to the final round of competition in their respective divisions.
The team is looking forward to showcasing their skills again at their upcoming November tournament at Linfield College in McMinnville, Ore., said Gossner.