Speech team finishes 2022 season with national appearances

The Concordia University, Nebraska forensics team competed in several national championship events in March and April 2022, making a strong showing for a small school team.

The first nationals event the team participated in was the Asynchronous Speech Championship, which took place virtually March 24-27. Gwen Gaunt, a sophomore from Hastings, Nebraska, and Alia Hurst, a senior from Fairmont, Nebraska, advanced to the quarter finals in Dramatic Interpretation, while Sabrina Reed, a junior from Crete, Nebraska, advanced to the semi-finals in Poetry and Dramatic Interpretation. The team overall placed No. 2 in the River Division Team Sweepstakes, a division for teams of 15 entries of less) and No. 9 overall in the Ocean Division, which includes all 33 schools at the tournament, regardless of entry size.

At the National Christian College Forensics Invitational at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, March 18-20, Thomas Welch, a sophomore from Jefferson City, Missouri, received a speaker award in Parliamentary Debate.

"Because of the distance to the National Christian College Forensics Invitational, which was held in-person this year, we were only able to bring a few students," said Joe Davis, director of forensics at Concordia Nebraska, "but with our newly-founded debate presence, we look forward to making a larger competitive splash at Christian Nationals in the future."

The Concordia Forensics Team was one of only two Midwest schools to qualify more than 10 competitors to the prestigious American Forensics Association National Speech Tournament held at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in Lincoln, Nebraska, April 1-4, 2022. Fourteen different competitors earned the team sweepstakes points in preliminary rounds, which includes members of all classes, senior to freshman. Concordia ranked No. 22 in the nation, regardless of division, maintaining their placement from the 2021 tournament.

"So much of our competitive success is derived from an intentionally team-centered effort," said Davis. "Our speech participation is some of the largest in the country, and I look forward to growing the debate program in a manner that not only is reminiscent of our university's impressive forensics history but works towards accomplishing our goal of becoming the best Christian collegiate forensics program in the country."