November 30, 2004

Boise State Talkin' Broncos Maintain Division Lead

The Boise State University debate and speech team maintained its lead in the Northwest Forensic Conference Division I standings with a second-place finish at the Mahaffey Memorial Tournament hosted by Linfield College Nov. 19-21 in McMinnville, Ore. The Talkin’ Broncos tallied 32 individual awards to solidify their lead in the conference standings. Carroll College (Mont.) won the tournament and moved up to third in the standings, while Lewis and Clark College (Ore.) remained second. Willamette University (Ore.) is fourth and the University of Oregon fifth.   Boise State’s Scott Nelson (senior, American Falls) won three first-place awards at the Mahaffey Tournament. In addition to winning the Rhetorical Analysis and novice Persuasive Speaking events, Nelson teamed with Krista King (sophomore, Boise) to take the championship in the novice division of Debate. King also finished third in novice Informative Speaking and fourth in novice Persuasive Speaking.   Team co-captains Hillary Davidson (junior, Spokane, Wash.) and Annah Merkley (senior, Pocatello) accounted for eight of Boise State’s awards. Merkley placed first in Program Oral Interpretation, and second in both Prose Interpretation and Poetry Interpretation. Davidson was third in Poetry Interpretation, fourth in Persuasive Speaking, fifth in Informative Speaking, sixth in Prose Interpretation and ninth in junior division Debate with partner Wayne Rysavy (sophomore, Ramstein, Germany). Rysavy also placed third in Informative Speaking and fifth in Dramatic Interpretation. Boise State’s other multiple award winners were Kristin Davidson (junior, Winnipeg, Manitoba) who won Speeches in Honor of Women, placed second in Persuasive Speaking and third in Rhetorical Analysis; Barton Jackson (sophomore, Eagle) who finished third in Persuasive Speaking, fifth in Extemporaneous Speaking, sixth in Impromptu Speaking and ninth in open division Debate with partner Lacey Rammell-O’Brien (senior, Eagle); Rammell-O’Brien who placed fourth in Informative Speaking and sixth in Dramatic Interpretation;  and John Petti (senior, Lakewood, Calif.) who was third in Impromptu Speaking and sixth in novice Dramatic Interpretation. Michelle Bicek’s (senior, Boise) third-place award in novice Persuasive Speaking completed Boise State’s scoring.  Nelson, King, Kristin Davidson and Rammell-O’Brien were named to the All-Tournament Debate team. The Talkin’ Broncos return to competition in January at the final Northwest Conference meet of the 2004-05 season, the Scheller Invitational Tournament hosted by Pacific University in Forest Grove, Ore.   NFC Division I Standings as of Nov. 23  (Points)   1.  Boise State University  (416.2) 2.  Lewis & Clark College  (335.8) 3.  Carroll College  (224.0) 4.  Willamette University  (116.0) 5.  University of Oregon  (111.5) 6.  Pacific Lutheran University  (101.8) 7.  Whitman College  (93.4) 8.  University of Puget Sound  (72.0) 9.  Humboldt State University  (47.0) 10. Oregon State University  (41.0) -30- Contact: Marty Most, Department of Communication, (208) 426-1920                                                               Media Contact: Kathleen Craven, University Relations, (208) 426-3275, kcraven@boisestate.edu