Forensics Starts Fall Semester with Major Tournament Wins
The Truman Forensics Team began the fall semester with multiple wins among virtual and in-person tournaments.
Forensics secured wins at the online tournaments Back to the Nest, hosted by Illinois State University, and Pride of the Preseason, hosted by Hofstra University, as well as an impressive showing at the Jackrabbit Joust and SDSU Alumni Tournament at South Dakota State University.
Pride of the Preseason kicked off the season virtually and saw Grayson Russell, first-year environmental science major, take fifth in After-Dinner Speaking, marking the team's first qualifying event to nationals this year and the first of Russell’s collegiate career. Ashton Mullen, fourth-year political science and international relations major, was also a semi-finalist in Impromptu Speaking. While the individual events team members warmed up for the season, the debate team members did just as well at the virtual Washburn Warmup, hosted by Washburn University, the same weekend.
Things started heating up as team members traveled north to Brookings, South Dakota, to face off at the Jackrabbit Joust and SDSU Alumni tournaments. Teams at the Jackrabbit Joust competed in parliamentary debate, with the two-person team consisting of Cooper Spacil, third-year political science and international relations and social issues advocacy double major, and Nick Williams, first-year social issues advocacy major, clinching the tournament championship. They were joined by teams of Lauren Weiss, third-year biology major, and Jack Unsell, second-year environmental science major, as semifinalists, and Sawyer Partney, third-year political science and international relations and economics double major, and Ryan Franklin, third-year statistics major, as quarterfinalists. Spacil and Unsell also placed first and third in speaking awards, respectively.
Outside of debate rounds and in public address events, Annie Nguyen, second-year political science and international relations major, took home first place in Rhetorical Criticism, qualifying for nationals, joined by Willow Adamson, second-year psychology major, in fourth. Nguyen also placed second in Informative Speaking, qualifying for nationals, along with Unsell in fifth. In After-Dinner Speaking, Partney took fifth, qualifying for nationals. A pairing of Adamson and Spacil took first in Duo Interpretation, also qualifying for nationals. Overall, the team took second in Team Sweepstakes, which is a cumulative measure of the team’s performance across all event entries.
Truman topped the first day’s performance at the SDSU Alumni Tournament. Nguyen reprised her victory in Rhetorical Criticism, taking first, followed by Williams in third, Adamson in fourth and Spacil in fifth; the latter all qualifying for nationals. Nguyen then went on to seize first in Informative Speaking. Unsell moved forward with a first-place victory in Impromptu Speaking, followed by Weiss in fifth, both qualifying for nationals. In Extemporaneous Speaking, Partney claimed second, followed by Spacil in third and Unsell in fifth, all qualifying for nationals. Partney rose in After-Dinner Speaking, taking second. In Persuasive Speaking, Weiss took fifth, qualifying for nationals. Adamson placed sixth in Prose Interpretation, making the final qualification for the national tournament. In Team Sweepstakes, Truman took first overall, beating notable competitors University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and Northwest Missouri State, as well as strong regional competitor Concordia University-Nebraska.
“It was great being back at SDSU and even better walking away with a tournament championship. Despite our huge success, it is still early in the season and the team is hungry to keep getting better,” said Lars Wagener, assistant director of forensics.
On top of all the success away, there was still success to be found at home. In the Back to the Nest online tournament, hosted by Illinois State University, Jack Schroeder, third-year history major, placed sixth in Extemporaneous Speaking, qualifying for nationals.
Forensics secured wins at the online tournaments Back to the Nest, hosted by Illinois State University, and Pride of the Preseason, hosted by Hofstra University, as well as an impressive showing at the Jackrabbit Joust and SDSU Alumni Tournament at South Dakota State University.
Pride of the Preseason kicked off the season virtually and saw Grayson Russell, first-year environmental science major, take fifth in After-Dinner Speaking, marking the team's first qualifying event to nationals this year and the first of Russell’s collegiate career. Ashton Mullen, fourth-year political science and international relations major, was also a semi-finalist in Impromptu Speaking. While the individual events team members warmed up for the season, the debate team members did just as well at the virtual Washburn Warmup, hosted by Washburn University, the same weekend.
Things started heating up as team members traveled north to Brookings, South Dakota, to face off at the Jackrabbit Joust and SDSU Alumni tournaments. Teams at the Jackrabbit Joust competed in parliamentary debate, with the two-person team consisting of Cooper Spacil, third-year political science and international relations and social issues advocacy double major, and Nick Williams, first-year social issues advocacy major, clinching the tournament championship. They were joined by teams of Lauren Weiss, third-year biology major, and Jack Unsell, second-year environmental science major, as semifinalists, and Sawyer Partney, third-year political science and international relations and economics double major, and Ryan Franklin, third-year statistics major, as quarterfinalists. Spacil and Unsell also placed first and third in speaking awards, respectively.
Outside of debate rounds and in public address events, Annie Nguyen, second-year political science and international relations major, took home first place in Rhetorical Criticism, qualifying for nationals, joined by Willow Adamson, second-year psychology major, in fourth. Nguyen also placed second in Informative Speaking, qualifying for nationals, along with Unsell in fifth. In After-Dinner Speaking, Partney took fifth, qualifying for nationals. A pairing of Adamson and Spacil took first in Duo Interpretation, also qualifying for nationals. Overall, the team took second in Team Sweepstakes, which is a cumulative measure of the team’s performance across all event entries.
Truman topped the first day’s performance at the SDSU Alumni Tournament. Nguyen reprised her victory in Rhetorical Criticism, taking first, followed by Williams in third, Adamson in fourth and Spacil in fifth; the latter all qualifying for nationals. Nguyen then went on to seize first in Informative Speaking. Unsell moved forward with a first-place victory in Impromptu Speaking, followed by Weiss in fifth, both qualifying for nationals. In Extemporaneous Speaking, Partney claimed second, followed by Spacil in third and Unsell in fifth, all qualifying for nationals. Partney rose in After-Dinner Speaking, taking second. In Persuasive Speaking, Weiss took fifth, qualifying for nationals. Adamson placed sixth in Prose Interpretation, making the final qualification for the national tournament. In Team Sweepstakes, Truman took first overall, beating notable competitors University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and Northwest Missouri State, as well as strong regional competitor Concordia University-Nebraska.
“It was great being back at SDSU and even better walking away with a tournament championship. Despite our huge success, it is still early in the season and the team is hungry to keep getting better,” said Lars Wagener, assistant director of forensics.
On top of all the success away, there was still success to be found at home. In the Back to the Nest online tournament, hosted by Illinois State University, Jack Schroeder, third-year history major, placed sixth in Extemporaneous Speaking, qualifying for nationals.
