Forensics Wins State Championship

The team’s performances earned them first place in the speech/individual events (IE) category, claiming an impressive 327 points and winning against the second-place team from the University of Central Missouri by a close 1% margin. They also secured second place in debate. These combined efforts helped them to win an overall first place victory against 14 competing schools from Missouri, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska.

The team secured multiple qualifications for the National Forensics Association (NFA) and American Forensics Association (AFA) for the upcoming national’s season in March and April.

The team brought home a total of 17 state championship titles.

Team Sweeps
•    First place state champions in the Bob R. Derryberry open overall sweepstakes (IE and debate combined)
•    First place state champions in open IE sweepstakes
•    Second in debate sweepstakes
•    Quality award state champions

Individual Sweeps
•    Alex Peterson, first state champion
•    Briggs Maynor, third

Speech
After-Dinner Speaking
•    Alex Peterson, first state champion
•    Briggs Maynor, fourth (NFA)
•    Emery McEvoy, fifth top novice

Communication Analysis
•    Mikayla Hammer, first top novice state champion (AFA)
•    Alex Peterson, third
Drama
•    Briggs Maynor, second
•    Zoe Walker, sixth (NFA)

Duo
•    Briggs Maynor/Peterson, fourth (NFA)

Extemp
•    Cooper Spacil, fourth

Impromptu
•    Hammer, first top novice state champion
•    Peterson, third

Informative
•    Lauren Weiss, second top novice state champion
•    Rashed Sohan, sixth

Persuasive
•    Hammer, first top novice state champion (AFA)
•    Ashton Mullen, third (AFA)
•    Peterson, fourth

Poetry
•    Jessie Philips, fifth (NFA)

Program Oral Interp
•    Lauren Weiss, third top novice

Prose
•    Maynor, first state champion
•    Peterson, second
•    Jessie Philips, third (NFA)
•    Weiss, sixth top novice

Debate
Novice IPDA
•    Ben Grandstaff, first place and first speaker state champion

Open IPDA
•    Cooper Spacil, quarterfinalist
•    Ashton Mullen, octafinalist

Novice LD
•    Sawyer Partney and Ryan Franklin, first co-state champions
•    Sawyer Partney, first speaker state champion
•    Ryan Franklin, second speaker

Open LD
•    Payten Luaders, second place state champion and third speaker state champion

Novice TIPDA
•    McEvoy, third speaker
•    Hammer, fifth speaker

Open TIPDA
•    Luaders, fifth speaker

Students interested in joining the Forensics Union should contact Ben Davis at bdavis@truman.edu or visit forensics.truman.edu/joinus. Applications are due March 17 for those wanting to join for the fall semester. Scholarships and course credit are available.