The St. Cloud State Speech & Debate team and multiple student members took home top honors at the 39th Minnesota State Speech & Debate Championship Tournament on Feb. 18-19 held at the University of Minnesota.
As a team, St. Cloud State took first place in Team Sweepstakes, with six students also placing in the top six in various categories. Students who secured top honors include:
- 1st place – Parliamentary Debate (Myles Kinney and Anna Lomnicki)
- 1st place – Debate Speaker Award (Kinney)
- 2nd place – Impromptu Speaking (Kinney)
- 3rd place – Parliamentary Debate (Betsy Lomnicki and Eli Julius)
- 3rd place – Parliamentary Debate (Cassy Stierns and Brian Welch)
- 3rd place – Debate Speaker Award (Julius)
- 5th place – Debate Speaker Award (Welch)
- 6th place – Persuasive Speaking (Anna Lomnicki)
- 6th place – Extemporaneous Speaking (Welch)
Other participants from St. Cloud State who also took part in the competition include students Maisie Leick, Spenser Norling, Lindsey Hypatia and Sam Bray.
St. Cloud State Speech & Debate members also attended tournaments at St. Cloud State and two virtual tournaments in February. Over the next few weeks, the team will attend the National Online Forensics Tournament on March 17-20 and the National Asynchronous Speech Competition on March 23-27.
Participation in Forensics teaches students important public speaking, research, organizational, leadership, group work, and critical thinking skills. The activity is open to any student in good standing. The St. Cloud State Speech & Debate team is coached by Scott Wells.
St. Cloud State Forensics is one of nearly 200 student organizations at St. Cloud State that provide students with leadership, management, and volunteer service/learning opportunities and which foster an active campus community.
