Pacific Speech Earns 18 Awards, Places Second in Team Sweeps
The Pacific University Speech and Debate Team earned 18 awards at the Oregon State University Earl Wells Memorial Tournament Feb. 17-18. Each attending team member picked up at least one award, culminating in a second-place team-sweepstakes award. Thirteen schools from four states attended the tournament.
Christiana Warner '21 earned four different awards at OSU, making her the fourth-best competitor overall at the tournament. Warner placed first in Program Oral Interpretation, first in Bad Interpretation (a satirical performance event), second in After Dinner Speaking, and third in Dramatic Interpretation.
Zoë Kim-Maskell '21 was right behind Warner in the standings as the fifth-best competitor overall. Kim-Maskell was crowned champion in Open Prose Interpretation and placed second in Open Poetry. Kim-Maskell also competed in Novice IPDA debate, finishing second in after a split, 2-1 decision.
Avery Beckius '21 tied for eighth place overall in the tournament, earning first place in Novice Persuasive Speaking and second place in Novice Informative Speaking.
Beckius was joined by multiple teammates in Novice Persuasive and Novice Informative.
In Novice Persuasive, Lillian Wolfe '20 placed second with a speech on the need for social justice in education. Sagnik Bhadra '20 placed fourth with a persuasive speech on the benefits of immigration.
In Novice Informative, Some Bhadra '20 placed sixth with a topical speech examining cryptocurrencies.
Kia Addison '20 earned first place in Poetry Interpretation with a collection of poems that discuss the intersectionality of racial and cultural identities. Addison was also fourth in Open Informative Speaking.
Olivia Rockwood '21 placed third in Prose Interpretation. Ilana Freeman '19 earned second place in Dramatic Interpretation and third in Program Oral Interpretation.
The team's placings earned Pacific a second-place finish in Team Sweepstakes with 102 points. Whitworth University placed first with 152 points and Colorado Christian University came in third with 70 points.
The next and final regular-season tournament for the Pacific Speech and Debate Team is a district qualifier meet on Feb. 24. Following that tournament, Warner, Kim-Maskell, and Brooke Roth head to Montreal for an international tournament March 12-13. The final tournament of the year will be NFA Nationals, held April 18-24 in Oshkosh, Wisc.