Forensics Celebrates Split Tournament Successes
The Truman State University forensics team carried its momentum into fall break with dual travel tournaments at the Missouri Mule and Dale Carnegie Swing, as well as the Motor City Swing.
Swing tournaments provide the team the ability to get multiple qualifications in a single weekend, as each day of the tournament weekend is considered a separate tournament. However, before the weekend began, Lauren Weiss, third-year biology major, placed third in persuasive speaking in the Online Asynchronous Tournament Series No. 1.
The lead tournament squad set off for Warrensburg to compete in the three-day Missouri Mule, hosted by the University of Central Missouri. On the first day, individual debaters competed in IPDA, with Jack Unsell, second-year environmental science major, advancing to octofinals in varsity division, and Nick Williams, first-year social issues advocacy major, advancing to quarterfinals in the junior-varsity division.
On day two of the Mule, team members competed in both individual events and various debate formats. Pairs of debaters competed in team IPDA, with Williams and Eric Rotert, third-year social issues advocacy and criminal justice double major, advancing to quarterfinals in the varsity division. Williams also received sixth place in speaker awards. In Lincoln-Douglas debate, in the junior-varsity division, Ammi McHugh, second-year political science and international relations major, reached semifinals, and Tessa Kremer, second-year statistics major, reached the quarterfinals, both qualifying for nationals. In the varsity division of Lincoln-Douglas debate, Ryan Franklin, third-year statistics major, advanced to the quarterfinals, and Payten Luaders, fourth-year political science and international relations and philosophy and religion double major, was tournament champion, qualifying to nationals. In speaking awards, Kremer took fifth, and McHugh took first in the junior-varsity division, with Franklin taking third and Luaders taking second in the varsity division. In individual events, Weiss placed first in persuasive speaking and fourth in extemporaneous speaking, qualifying for nationals. Weiss also advanced as a semifinalist in impromptu speaking. Willow Adamson, second-year psychology major, took fourth in Poetry Interpretation, qualifying for nationals, as well as first in rhetorical criticism. In program oral interpretation, Jasmin Elwood, third-year accounting major, placed fourth, qualifying for nationals. In dramatic interpretation, Kat Velasquez, first-year political science and international relations major, placed third, and Nikki Jiang, second-year political science and international relations major, placed second, qualifying for nationals. For the Missouri Mule, the team placed third in debate sweeps against notable teams including the University of Missouri-Columbia, Kansas State University and the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.
For the Motor City Swing at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, on the first day, a smaller squad of team members competed against nationally recognized competition for better speech development. In extemporaneous speaking, Ashton Mullen, fourth-year political science and international relations major, placed fifth, qualifying for nationals, also taking fifth in informative speaking. In rhetorical criticism, Cooper Spacil, third-year political science and international relations and social issues advocacy double major, placed third. In persuasive speaking, Jack Schroeder, third-year history major, placed fourth.
On day two in Warrensburg, in the Dale Carnegie tournament, team members improved on the previous day’s results. In Lincoln-Douglas debate, in the varsity division, Luaders took second and placed first overall in speaking awards. In the junior-varsity division of Lincoln-Douglas debate, Kremer took fourth in speaking awards. In individual events, Weiss placed first in persuasive speaking for the second time and fourth in impromptu speaking. Unsell also took first in impromptu speaking. In informative speaking, Unsell took second, qualifying for nationals. In interviewing, Jiang took fifth. Elwood came back to champion program oral interpretation and took third in prose interpretation, qualifying for nationals. In dramatic interpretation, Velasquez took third, and Jiang took second. Finally, in rhetorical criticism, Adamson took first and Williams took fourth. In team sweepstakes, the team took second in individual event sweeps and second in Debate Sweeps, taking first in overall sweeps for the Dale Carnegie, and taking second in combined sweeps, the average over the two days, out of 17 teams, placing over teams including University of Central Arkansas, Missouri State University and University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
On the second day for the Motor City Swing at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan, the team finished out the tournament strong. In after-dinner speaking, Sawyer Partney, third-year political science and international relations and economics double major, placed sixth. In extemporaneous speaking, Partney placed third, and Schroeder placed fifth. In impromptu speaking, Partney placed sixth, qualifying for nationals. Mullen placed fourth in informative speaking. In rhetorical criticism, Spacil placed third for the second time. In persuasive speaking, Schroeder placed third. Overall, the team placed second in team sweeps ahead of notable competitors like Wayne State University, Eastern Michigan University, and Ball State University.
Swing tournaments provide the team the ability to get multiple qualifications in a single weekend, as each day of the tournament weekend is considered a separate tournament. However, before the weekend began, Lauren Weiss, third-year biology major, placed third in persuasive speaking in the Online Asynchronous Tournament Series No. 1.
The lead tournament squad set off for Warrensburg to compete in the three-day Missouri Mule, hosted by the University of Central Missouri. On the first day, individual debaters competed in IPDA, with Jack Unsell, second-year environmental science major, advancing to octofinals in varsity division, and Nick Williams, first-year social issues advocacy major, advancing to quarterfinals in the junior-varsity division.
On day two of the Mule, team members competed in both individual events and various debate formats. Pairs of debaters competed in team IPDA, with Williams and Eric Rotert, third-year social issues advocacy and criminal justice double major, advancing to quarterfinals in the varsity division. Williams also received sixth place in speaker awards. In Lincoln-Douglas debate, in the junior-varsity division, Ammi McHugh, second-year political science and international relations major, reached semifinals, and Tessa Kremer, second-year statistics major, reached the quarterfinals, both qualifying for nationals. In the varsity division of Lincoln-Douglas debate, Ryan Franklin, third-year statistics major, advanced to the quarterfinals, and Payten Luaders, fourth-year political science and international relations and philosophy and religion double major, was tournament champion, qualifying to nationals. In speaking awards, Kremer took fifth, and McHugh took first in the junior-varsity division, with Franklin taking third and Luaders taking second in the varsity division. In individual events, Weiss placed first in persuasive speaking and fourth in extemporaneous speaking, qualifying for nationals. Weiss also advanced as a semifinalist in impromptu speaking. Willow Adamson, second-year psychology major, took fourth in Poetry Interpretation, qualifying for nationals, as well as first in rhetorical criticism. In program oral interpretation, Jasmin Elwood, third-year accounting major, placed fourth, qualifying for nationals. In dramatic interpretation, Kat Velasquez, first-year political science and international relations major, placed third, and Nikki Jiang, second-year political science and international relations major, placed second, qualifying for nationals. For the Missouri Mule, the team placed third in debate sweeps against notable teams including the University of Missouri-Columbia, Kansas State University and the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.
For the Motor City Swing at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, on the first day, a smaller squad of team members competed against nationally recognized competition for better speech development. In extemporaneous speaking, Ashton Mullen, fourth-year political science and international relations major, placed fifth, qualifying for nationals, also taking fifth in informative speaking. In rhetorical criticism, Cooper Spacil, third-year political science and international relations and social issues advocacy double major, placed third. In persuasive speaking, Jack Schroeder, third-year history major, placed fourth.
On day two in Warrensburg, in the Dale Carnegie tournament, team members improved on the previous day’s results. In Lincoln-Douglas debate, in the varsity division, Luaders took second and placed first overall in speaking awards. In the junior-varsity division of Lincoln-Douglas debate, Kremer took fourth in speaking awards. In individual events, Weiss placed first in persuasive speaking for the second time and fourth in impromptu speaking. Unsell also took first in impromptu speaking. In informative speaking, Unsell took second, qualifying for nationals. In interviewing, Jiang took fifth. Elwood came back to champion program oral interpretation and took third in prose interpretation, qualifying for nationals. In dramatic interpretation, Velasquez took third, and Jiang took second. Finally, in rhetorical criticism, Adamson took first and Williams took fourth. In team sweepstakes, the team took second in individual event sweeps and second in Debate Sweeps, taking first in overall sweeps for the Dale Carnegie, and taking second in combined sweeps, the average over the two days, out of 17 teams, placing over teams including University of Central Arkansas, Missouri State University and University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
On the second day for the Motor City Swing at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan, the team finished out the tournament strong. In after-dinner speaking, Sawyer Partney, third-year political science and international relations and economics double major, placed sixth. In extemporaneous speaking, Partney placed third, and Schroeder placed fifth. In impromptu speaking, Partney placed sixth, qualifying for nationals. Mullen placed fourth in informative speaking. In rhetorical criticism, Spacil placed third for the second time. In persuasive speaking, Schroeder placed third. Overall, the team placed second in team sweeps ahead of notable competitors like Wayne State University, Eastern Michigan University, and Ball State University.
