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Concordia speech team starts season strong

Seward, NE (10/17/2019) — Concordia University, Nebraska's speech team is off to a strong start, with numerous students earning first-place finishes in the team's first two tournaments and one student already qualifying for the national tournament.

The team participated in the Jackrabbit Joust at South Dakota State University Oct. 12-13, after it hosted the Bulldog Swing Speech Tournament Oct. 5-6.

"I was extremely proud of our team's start to their season," said Joe Davis, head speech team coach. "Both the members who helped run our tournament and those who competed put in an extraordinary amount of effort."

At the Jackrabbit Joust, Day One results included Philomena Williams finishing first in program oral interpretation and second in poetry. Lindsay Range finished third in dramatic interpretation and third in prose, while Malia Ebel placed fourth in communication analysis.

In Day Two of the event, Williams placed first in poetry and program oral interpretation, second in individual sweepstakes and third place in dramatic interpretation. Ebel also finished fifth in communication analysis.

Results from Day One of the Bulldog Swing Speech Tournament included Williams earning first in poetry, third in dramatic interpretation and third in program oral interpretation. Jacob Garrison and Adam Hiles placed second and Taryn Thomas and Ebel finished in fifth place in duo interpretation. Ebel also finished sixth in communication analysis and eighth in impromptu. Alia Hurst finished in fifth place in dramatic interpretation and Angelina Stinson in sixth place in program oral interpretation.

Day Two results were comprised of Williams placing first in poetry, second place in program oral interpretation and fifth place in dramatic interpretation. Garrison and Hiles placed first in duo interpretation, while Thomas and Ebel finished fifth. Ebel also earned sixth place in extemporaneous. Range placed second in prose, Hurst placed third in prose and third in dramatic interpretation and Grace Koehn placed fourth in poetry. Jallah Bolay placed sixth in impromptu, Stinson placed sixth in program oral interpretation and Spencer Humphreys placed sixth in prose.

Of the 16 breaks, or advances to final rounds in the first two tournaments, 10 of the team's placings served as a bid to the American Forensics Association National Tournament in April. To qualify for the national competition, a student must make three bids in a given category. Williams has qualified for the national tournament in the poetry and program oral interpretation categories, the quickest qualification for nationals the team has had in its history, Davis said.

Members of the 2019-20 Concordia speech team (listed by home state, home city and then last name in alphabetical order, with Nebraska listed first):

Nebraska

Zoe Sjuts, freshman, Bancroft, Neb.

Bailey Mooney, freshman, Bee, Neb.

Julia Witt, freshman, Columbus, Neb.

Sabrina Reed, freshman, Crete, Neb.

Katie Funk, senior, Clearwater, Neb.

Jayson Klaumann, freshman, Fairbury, Neb.

Alia Hurst, sophomore, Fairmont, Neb.

Zipporah Johnson, freshman, Hastings, Neb.

Trevor Toft, freshman, Holdrege, Neb.

Treianne Park, junior, Loomis, Neb.

Jacob Garrison, junior, Malcolm, Neb.

Lindsay Range, senior, Monroe, Neb.

Luke Blomenberg, junior, Norfolk, Neb.

Sarah Sugita, sophomore, Norfolk, Neb.

Morgan Fischer, freshman, North Platte, Neb.

Marlaena Sucha, sophomore, Riverdale, Neb.

Elisha Meyer, freshman, Seward, Neb.

Illinois

Adam Hiles, junior, Carlyl, Ill.

Indiana

Janis Wagner, sophomore, Indianapolis, Ind.

Kansas

Jallah Bolay, junior, Colby, Kan.

Taryn Thomas, senior, Overland, Kan.

Minnesota

Whitney Borchardt, sophomore, Henning, Minn.

Allison Marshall, junior, Woodbury, Minn.

Missouri

Philomena Williams, sophomore, Independence, Mo.

Grace Koehn, junior, Saint Louis, Mo.

Montana

Malia Ebel, junior, Billings, Mont.

North Dakota

Faith Greenmeyer, Oakes, N.D.

Ohio

Spencer Humphreys, freshman, Boardmann, Ohio

Wisconsin

Sarah Benz, junior, Campbellsport, Wis.

Wyoming

Angelina Stinson, freshman, Cheyenne, Wyo.

About Concordia University, Nebraska

Concordia University, Nebraska, founded in 1894, is a fully accredited, coeducational university located in Seward, Nebraska, which currently serves more than 2,500 students. Concordia offers more than 100 undergraduate, graduate and professional programs in an excellent academic and Christ-centered community that equips men and women for lives of learning, service and leadership in the church and world. For more information, visit cune.edu.

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Concordia students competing at the Bulldog Swing Speech Tournament Oct. 5-6 included: (back row L-R) Eli Meyer, Luke Blomenberg, Trevor Toft, Jayson Klaumann, Adam Hiles, Zipporah Johnson, Jallah Bolay and Jacob Garrison; (third row L-R) Marlaena Sucha, Sabrina Reed, Malia Ebel, Whitney Borchardt, Sarah Benz, Spencer Humphreys and Dalton Bergstrom; (second row, L-R) Head Coach Joe Davis, Allison Marshall, Sarah Sugita, Janis Wagner, Morgan Fischer, Bailey Mooney, Taryn Thomas, Julia Witt, Zoe Sjuts and Grace Koehn; (front row L-R) Katie Funk, Faith Greenmeyer, Philomena Williams, Angelina Stinson, Alia Hurst, Lindsay Range, Assistant Coach Erica Lamm and (floor) Trei Park.

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