The ÇàÇà²Ýapp State University Speech and Debate team continued its 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, ÇàÇà²Ýapp) 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, ÇàÇà²Ýapp), 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, ÇàÇà²Ýapp), who took fourth-place in junior impromptu speaking; Gibson, who took fifth-place in junior extemporaneous speaking; and Alison Hurst (senior, ÇàÇà²Ýapp), 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 ÇàÇà²Ýapped in part through the generosity of the Jeker Family Trust. For more information about the Talkin’ Broncos, contact Manda Hicks, director of forensics at ÇàÇà²Ýapp State at mandahicks@boisestate.edu.