The Hastings College Speech Team had two successful tournament weekends in a row in mid and late February. The team traveled to Omaha, Nebraska, February 16-17 and then stayed home to host the Bronco Bash February 23-24 in the Morrison-Reeves Science Center on campus.
Numerous alumni came back to celebrate Bronco Bash, including Darren Epping ’04, the current assistant director of forensics, vice president of the American Forensics Association National Individual Events Tournament and the director of the basic course instruction at Kansas State University, and Jose Jimenez ’14, the community organizer for the non-profit Nebraska Appleseed and a Hastings College forensics coach. Jennifer Labrie Pereira ’05 donated handmade trophies for the second day of competition.
The team qualified eight events to the AFA-NIET tournament in April over the two weekends.
In Omaha, junior Elizabeth Hansen took home two qualifications in Impromptu Speaking and Duo Interpretation with junior Melissa Loney. The Bronco Bash also brought qualifications with junior Jadah Morrison from Chaska, Minnesota, qualifying Persuasive Speaking and Prose Interpretation; junior Alli Kennon from Lakeville, Minnesota, qualifying Informative Speaking; junior Nathan Navratil from Lino Lakes, Minnesota, qualifying Dramatic Interpretation and Duo Interpretation with sophomore Courtney Hanson from Brookings, South Dakota; and first-year student Claire Nelson from Bagley, Minnesota, qualifying Persuasive Speaking and Dramatic Interpretation.
The results from the past two weekends are below.
Saturday, February 16
- Claire Nelson, a first-year student from Bagley, Minnesota, placed first in Dramatic Interpretation and third in Extemporaneous Speaking.
- Jadah Morrison, a junior from Wayzata, Minnesota, placed fifth in Prose Interpretation.
- Elizabeth Hansen, a junior from Fremont, Nebraska, placed second in Duo Interpretation with Melissa Loney, a junior from Omaha, Nebraska and fifth in Impromptu Speaking.
- Melissa Loney, a junior from Omaha, Nebraska, placed second in Duo Interpretation with Elizabeth Hansen, a junior from Fremont, Nebraska and sixth in Informative Speaking.
- Alli Kennon, a junior from Lakeville, Minnesota, placed second in Informative Speaking.
Sunday, February 17
- Claire Nelson, a first-year student from Bagley, Minnesota, placed first in Dramatic Interpretation, second in Extemporaneous Speaking and seventh in Persuasive Speaking.
- Jadah Morrison, a junior from Wayzata, Minnesota, placed third in Prose Interpretation and third in Persuasive Speaking.
- Elizabeth Hansen, a junior from Fremont, Nebraska, placed second in Duo Interpretation with Melissa Loney, a junior from Omaha, Nebraska and first in Impromptu Speaking.
- Melissa Loney, a junior from Omaha, Nebraska, placed second in Duo Interpretation with Elizabeth Hansen, a junior from Fremont, Nebraska and fourth in Informative Speaking.
- Alli Kennon, a junior from Lakeville, Minnesota, placed second in Informative Speaking.
The team placed third in Team Sweepstakes for the day.
Saturday, February 23
- Claire Nelson, a first-year student from Bagley, Minnesota, placed second in Impromptu Speaking, third in Dramatic Interpretation, third in Persuasive Speaking, and fifth in Extemporaneous Speaking.
- Sam Johnson, a first-year student from Hastings, Nebraska, placed third in Extemporaneous Speaking and fifth in Communication Analysis.
- Chloe Carson, a first-year student from Eagan, Minnesota, placed fifth in Program Oral Interpretation.
- Conner Taylor, a first-year student from Omaha, Nebraska, placed fourth in Program Oral Interpretation.
Sunday, February 24:
- Claire Nelson, a first-year student from Bagley, Minnesota, placed first in Dramatic Interpretation, second in Persuasive Speaking and fifth in Extemporaneous Speaking.
- Sam Johnson, a first-year student from Hastings, Nebraska, placed fourth in Extemporaneous Speaking.
- Chloe Carson, a first-year student from Eagan, Minnesota, placed fifth in After Dinner Speaking and sixth in Program Oral Interpretation.
- Conner Taylor, a first-year student from Omaha, Nebraska, placed fifth in Program Oral Interpretation.
- Sam Burke, a sophomore from Denver, Colorado, placed first in Poetry Interpretation.
- Courtney Hanson, a sophomore from Brookings, South Dakota, placed first in Duo Interpretation with Nathan Navratil, a junior from Lino Lakes, Minnesota.
- Alli Kennon, a junior from Lakeville, Minnesota, placed first in Informative Speaking
- Melissa Loney, a junior from Omaha, Nebraska, placed fourth in Informative Speaking.
- Jadah Morrison, a junior from Chaska, Minnesota, placed first in Persuasive Speaking and first in Prose Interpretation.
- Nathan Navratil, a junior from Lino Lakes, Minnesota, placed first in Duo Interpretation with Courtney Hanson, a sophomore from Brookings, South Dakota, second in Dramatic Interpretation, and third in Impromptu Speaking.
The Hastings Speech Team placed first in Team Sweepstakes.
The Hastings College forensics team continues a long-running tradition of national competitive success, placing in the top 20 at the American Forensics Association National Individual Events Tournament (AFA-NIET) for many of the past ten years. Most recently, Hastings College placed 8th at AFA-NIET 2018.
Hastings College is a private, four-year institution located in Hastings, Nebraska, that focuses on student academic and extracurricular achievement. Hastings College has been named among “Great Schools, Great Prices” by U.S. News & World Report and a “Best in the Midwest” by The Princeton Review. For more, go to hastings.edu.
