Debate team gather wins at first spring tournament

The Casper College Talking T-Birds brought home wins from their first tournament of the spring, the Frankly Speaking Invitational Tournament at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.

The tournament, which was open to both two-and four-year colleges, allowed debaters to “break” into the semifinals and finals of either division. The International Public Debate Tournament was held the first day and the second day featured the Individual Events Tournament.

“At the IPDA Tournament, we had three students ‘break’ into outrounds,” said Doug Hall, forensics head coach and communication instructor. Dylan Smith and Stephanie Barella, both of Casper, broke into Open Quarterfinals, and Thayne Macy, also of Casper, broke into the Community College Final. Barella would go on to win the Open IPDA tournament, and Macy won the Community College section. Barella also earned enough speaker points to earn fifth place in IPDA speaker points.

At the Individual Events Tournament portion of Frankly Speaking, Casper College was well represented with finalists in both sections. In the open division section, Jae Fletcher, Rapid City, South Dakota, was the impromptu speaking champion; Barella took sixth in extemporaneous speaking; Izzy Garcia, Cheyenne, placed fifth in prose interpretation; Macy took fifth in extemporaneous speaking; and Alex Waters, Rapid City, took sixth in informative speaking and fourth in extemporaneous speaking.

In the community college section, Hannah Arnold, Lander, was the dramatic interpretation champion and placed second in speech to entertain; Barella was the impromptu champion and took third in informative speaking; Fletcher was the champion in extemporaneous speaking; Macy placed fourth in impromptu speaking and fifth in dramatic interpretation; Braxton Sambrano, Casper, took second in dramatic interpretation; Dylan Smith, Casper, placed sixth in impromptu speaking; and Violet Wright, Casper, took fourth in pervasive speaking.

In team sweepstakes, the Talking T-Birds took third in both community college and open overall and fourth in open IE. In individual sweepstakes, Macy placed third.

The tournament marked the team’s first following winter break. Hall said, “The coaching staff is very proud of the students that they were able to keep their focus, work ethic, and events competitive through break. We look forward to what the students can achieve in our future tournaments in California, Tokyo, and at Nationals in Albuquerque, New Mexico.”