CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State University's forensics team racked up impressive wins at the Coyote Classic Speech and Debate Tournament at The College of Idaho last week. The tournament featured schools from around the region, including Whitman College and Utah State University. 

"This was our first year attending the tournament," said Mark Porrovecchio, director of the team.  "It was great to compete against some of the schools that don't regularly make it to Oregon."

The list of wins started with individual speech events:

  • Dalicia Fennell, of Sutherlin, took first place in novice impromptu speaking and novice prose interpretation;
  • Loni Sturm, of Albany, received second place in open persuasive speaking;
  • David Kubota, of Forest Grove, took third place in after dinner speaking;
  • Morgan Mansker, of Sisters, received third place in open prose interpretation.

The team's rankings garnered them third place overall in the Sweepstakes Award for individual events.

The team's strong performance continued with the International Public Debate Association debate.

  • Sturm (Albany) received a gold medal in open debate and was named best overall speaker;
  • Forest Ledbetter (Sheridan), also took a gold medal in open debate and was fourth best overall speaker.
  • Fennell (Sutherlin) and Mansker (Sisters) received silver medals in open debate and were ranked third and sixth best speaker respectively.
  • Andrew Leder (Albany) rounded out the debate wins, receiving a bronze medal in open debate and a ninth best speaker award.

For their efforts, the team was recognized with second place overall in the Sweepstakes Award debate category.

Source: 

Mark Porrovecchio, (541) 737-8230

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