February 12, 2003

BOISE STATE’S TALKIN’ BRONCOS WIN DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP

The Boise State debate and speech team won its first-ever Northwest Forensic Conference Division I championship at the Western Washington University Tournament in Bellingham, Wash., last weekend. This is the first conference championship for Boise State since the team began competing at the Division I level three years ago. Prior to that, Boise State won 10 NFC Division II titles between 1988 and 2000.

Boise State finished second in the field of 31 colleges and universities from seven states competing at the Western Washington tournament, but that was enough to easily clinch first place in the season-long Northwest conference standings. The Talkin’ Broncos have been atop the NFC standings since they won the first conference tournament in October, widening their lead over second-place University of Oregon and third place Lewis and Clark College of Portland the entire season.

Team captain Nancy Henke (junior, Boise) led Boise State in scoring, finishing first in open informative speaking, third in program oral interpretation, fifth in open persuasive speaking and fifth in poetry interpretation. Patrick Connor (senior, Boise) was close behind, finishing first in junior informative speaking, second in rhetorical analysis and fifth in junior persuasive speaking. Other top Boise State scorers were: Nicki Napier (sophomore, Idaho Falls), who finished first in program oral interpretation and second in dramatic interpretation; Lacey Rammell-O’Brien (sophomore, Eagle) who placed first in dramatic interpretation, sixth in junior persuasive speaking and sixth in prose interpretation; and Kristin Davidson (junior, Boise) who was first in novice dramatic interpretation, first in novice program oral interpretation and second in open persuasive speaking.

Three Boise State debate teams contributed to the team’s point total. Ali Ishaq (junior, Boise) and Annah Merkley (sophomore, Pocatello) were fifth, and Jared Cooke (freshman, Idaho Falls) and Nate Schunke (junior, Boise) were ninth in the tournament’s junior division. Katherine Pate (senior, Ketchum) and Tandy Reyes (senior, Boise) finished third in the novice debate division. Ishaq, Merkley and Schunke were named to the all-tournament team.

The Talkin’ Broncos will travel to Tacoma in three weeks for the Pacific Lutheran University tournament, a tune-up for next month’s national tournament at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Md.

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Marty Most

Communications

208 426-1920

Kathleen Craven

communications and marketing

208 426-3275

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