Press Releases

The Truman Forensics Union competed virtually at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Ore. This massive tournament had 70 schools represented, and while competition was tight, Truman had great success earning two new qualifications to the national tournament.

Freshman Elijah Baum took fourth place speaker in the junior division Lincoln-Douglas debate and advanced to the octofinal round.

Freshman Jackson Boeck earned a seventh place speaker award and advanced all the way to the final round in the junior division of Lincoln-Douglas debate. This qualifies Boeck to appear at the national tournament later this year.

Junior Michael Garret earned ninth place speaker in the open division of Lincoln-Douglas debate and was an octofinalist. This win also earns Garret his national qualification.

And after winning the junior division at the Western Kentucky tournament, nobody informed freshman Alicia Stout that the open division was supposed to be more difficult. She advanced to semifinals in the open division and took the top speaker award for Lincoln-Douglas debate.

The Truman Forensics Union is a co-curricular group building skills in speech and debate and representing the school across the country. For more information about the team, contact Craig Hennigan, interim director of forensics, at chennigan@truman.edu.

Additionally, the team took third in team sweepstakes on the second day of the tournament and took home third place overall. Sophomore Audrey Baker also placed third in quadrathon for the weekend, a category for students competing in four or more events.

On the first day of the tournament, Baker moved all four of her events to finals. She would go on to finish third in all of them, including afterdinner speaking, program oral interpretation, dramatic interpretation and duo interpretation with junior Austin Sopko. In addition to sharing third in duo, Sopko also made finals in afterdinner speaking and was named tournament champion in the event. He has made finals with this speech every tournament this year, winning twice. First-year Korrin Comley has had similar successes, reaching finals in informative speaking at four out of five tournaments this year. She also took home a tournament championship and top novice in this event, her second championship with this speech. Comley also reached finals in persuasive speaking, placing third and top novice in the event. First-year Will Henrickson placed sixth in extemporaneous speaking and was fourth and top novice in dramatic interpretation. Junior Rebecca Walker placed sixth in program oral interpretation.

On the second day of the tournament, Baker returned to finals in three of her four events. She finished fourth in afterdinner speaking, second in dramatic interpretation and second in duo interpretation with Sopko. Sopko placed fifth in impromptu speaking and in afterdinner speaking in addition to his second-place duo with Baker. Comley returned to finals in informative speaking, placing second and receiving another top novice award. Henrickson placed fifth in dramatic interpretation and fourth in extemporaneous speaking. Walker flipped her events, this time placing second in afterdinner speaking. Additionally, first-year Malena Gansmann joined the ranks of finals on day two, placing sixth in prose interpretation.

In total, Truman forensics earned more than 20 individual awards and five new national qualifications. This successful weekend concludes the fall travel season, but the team will be back the first week of spring semester taking a small crew to the Iowa Swing in Cedar Falls.

For more information on how to get involved, visit forensics.truman.edu or contact Christopher Outzen, director of forensics, or Craig Hennigan, assistant director of forensics.

-Courtesy: Truman Today

In individual events during the Missouri Mule, Oct. 20, junior Austin Sopko was named tournament champion in afterdinner speaking. He also placed third in impromptu speaking and seventh in communication analysis. First-year Korrin Comley also picked up a tournament championship in informative speaking, which made her the top novice in the event. First-year Will Henrickson advanced to finals of dramatic interpretation and placed fifth. He was also named top novice in extemporaneous speaking. Junior Rebecca Walker advanced to afterdinner finals with Sopko and placed fifth.

During the Dale Carnegie, Oct. 21, Sopko once again advanced to finals in all three of his events. He would end up placing third in communication analysis, fourth in afterdinner speaking and sixth in impromptu speaking. Comley also advanced again in informative speaking, placing second and once again earning top novice. Henrickson reached finals in extemporaneous speaking and placed third, once again earning top novice in the event. Sophomore Maguire Radosevic also reached finals in extemporaneous, placing fifth. Finally, Walker also returned to afterdinner finals and placed fifth.

In Lincoln-Douglas (LD) debate, senior Johnathan Christy earned a tournament championship during the Missouri Mule by advancing through four elimination rounds and then defeating his finals opponent on a 3-0 judge’s decision. Christy was also named sixth speaker in varsity LD debate. Senior Tyler Behymer and sophomore Peyton Gilbert also had good tournaments, with Behymer finishing as a semifinalist and Gilbert as an octofinalist. Additionally, sophomore Eric Martin picked up a winning record in the junior varsity division of LD debate but fell just short of advancing to the final. Martin was named sixth speaker in the division and first year Michael Garrett was named fourth speaker. On Sunday, Christy once again advanced to elimination rounds, this time finishing as a quarterfinalist. He also completed his tournament as a third speaker in varsity LD.

After a very successful weekend at the University of Central Missouri, Truman Forensics picked up seven national qualifications for the NFA Championship Tournament, including Comley in informative, Henrickson in drama and extemporaneous speaking, Martin in LD debate, Radosevic in extemporaneous speaking, Sopko in communication analysis, and Walker in afterdinner Speaking. After only three tournament weekends, the team already has earned 20 qualifications to nationals.

Truman Forensics will return to competition with the Fall Redbird LD Swing, hosted by Illinois State University Nov.17-18.

For more information on how to get involved, visit forensics.truman.edu or contact Christopher Outzen, director of forensics, or Craig Hennigan, assistant director of forensics.

-Courtesy: Truman Today

The Truman Forensic Union opened their competitive season with two successful tournaments in Bowling Green, Ky., and Bolivar, Mo., earning two sweepstakes awards and 13 national qualifications.

Forensics traveled to Bowling Green for tournaments hosted by Western Kentucky University, Sept. 21. At the season-opening Alexis Elliot Memorial Round Robin, senior Johnathan Christy advanced to the final round of Lincoln-Douglas debate (LD) in a highly selective field consisting of the most competitive students in the country. Christy finished the tournament in second place and was named the best speaker of the tournament. Fellow senior Tyler Behymer was also selected for the tournament and finished in fourth place.

The team also competed in full at the Western Kentucky Fall Fiesta, Sept. 22. Christy made elimination rounds of LD and finished the tournament as an octofinalist. He was named the second-best speaker at the tournament. Sophomore Maguire Radosevic also advanced and finished as an octofinalist. Fellow sophomores Peyton Gilbert and Cami Smith advanced to quarterfinals. Smith was also named the second-best speaker at the tournament.

Truman Forensics later traveled to Bolivar for the annual Bob R. Derryberry Memorial tournament, hosted by Southwest Baptist University. Behymer advanced to the final round and won the tournament in debate. First-years Macy Cecil and Jackson Elder each advanced to elimination rounds of the novice LD division. Cecil finished as an octofinalist while Elder finished as a quarterfinalist.

In individual events at the Derryberry Memorial, junior Austin Sopko finished the tournament with fifth place in impromptu speaking and third place in afterdinner speaking. Sophomore Audrey Baker had similar successes in her two events, placing fourth in afterdinner speaking and second in dramatic interpretation. Junior Caleb Daniels advanced as a finalist in extemporaneous speaking, placing sixth. First-year Malena Gansmann reached finals of program oral interpretation and placed sixth as well.

In addition to individual student successes, Truman Forensics earned third place in debate sweepstakes and third in overall sweepstakes for the 2018 Derryberry Memorial. The team will travel to Warrensburg, Mo., to compete in the annual Missouri Mule and Dale Carnegie Swing tournament.

Inquiries about Truman Forensics can be sent to Chris Outzen, director of forensics, or Craig Hennigan, assistant director of forensics.

-Courtesy: Truman Today

The Forensic Union, speech and debate team, earned fourth in the nation in Lincoln-Douglas debate at the National Forensic Association’s Championship Tournament April 19-23 at the University of Wisconsin, Osh-Kosh.

In individual awards, first-years Peyton Gilbert, Maguire Radosevic and Cami Smith each advanced to the double-octafinals. This means they are among the top 32 debaters in the nation. Junior Johnathan Christy and senior Connor Stewart advanced to the octafinals, placing them in the top 16 in the nation. This is Stewart’s first national elimination round and Christy’s third. Junior Tyler Behymer advanced to the quarterfinal. This is his second elimination round appearance at nationals earning him the title of one of the top eight debaters in the nation.

Participation in the forensics program is open to any Truman student in good standing, regardless of prior speech and debate experience. For more information on how to get involved, visit forensics.truman.edu or contact Christopher Outzen, director of individual events, or Craig Hennigan, assistant director of forensics.

-Courtesy: Truman Today