News Release

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March 25, 2005

Boise State University Debate and Speech Team Wins National Championship

Boise State University’s Talkin’ Broncos are national champs!

The 14-member BSU debate and speech team dethroned six-time defending national champion Southwest Baptist University of Missouri at the biennial Pi Kappa Delta National Tournament at Webster University in St. Louis, Mo., March 20. The Boise State team also finished first in debate sweepstakes, second in speech sweepstakes and brought home 22 individual awards. In addition, John Petti (senior, Meridian) won the individual national championship in the broadcast journalism division of the competition.

The national tournament presents “Superior”  awards to the top 10 percent of participants in each event and “Excellent” awards to the second 10 percent. Receiving Superiors for Boise State were Annah Merkley (senior, Pocatello) in Prose Interpretation, Petti in Broadcast Journalism and Lacey Rammell-O’Brien (senior, Eagle) in Impromptu Speaking. Rammell-O’Brien was Boise State’s leading scorer, earning Excellent awards in Informative Speaking and Speech to Entertain. She also finished second in Parliamentary debate with teammate Barton Jackson (sophomore, Eagle). Jackson also earned an Excellent in Persuasive Speaking. 

Kristin Davidson (junior, Winnipeg, Manitoba) brought home three Excellent awards in Rhetorical Analysis, Poetry Interpretation and Speeches in Honor of Women. Nancy Henke (senior, Boise), Scott Nelson (senior, American Falls) and Hillary Davidson (junior, Spokane) were Boise State’s other multiple award winners with two Excellent awards each. Henke earned her awards in Informative and Persuasive Speaking, Nelson in Broadcast Journalism and Rhetorical Analysis, and Davidson in Persuasive Speaking and Prose Interpretation. Davidson also teamed with debate partner Wayne Rysavy (sophomore, Ramstein, Germany) to place third in the junior division of Parliamentary Debate. Rysavy earned an Excellent in Dramatic Interpretation.

Other Excellent awards were earned by Jared Cooke (junior, Idaho Falls) in Impromptu Speaking, Krista King (junior, Boise) in Informative Speaking and Nate Pohl (sophomore, Boise) in Prose Interpretation. Richard Martini (junior, Boise) and Miles Stirewalt (junior, Pocatello) also contributed points to the Talkin’ Broncos’ victory total, earning team points in both speech and debate events by finishing in the top half of the field in their events. 

Debaters Rammell-O’Brien and Henke were each recognized as All Americans. Only nine All-Americans are chosen biannually from Pi Kappa Delta’s membership. All-American awards recognize the recipients for their excellence in classroom endeavors, success in speech and debate competition and service to their institution and their community.

Henke is majoring in English and minoring in history. She has earned membership in six honorary societies: Phi Kappa Phi, Alpha Lambda Delta, Gamma Beta Phi, Golden Key, Sigma Tau Delta and Pi Kappa Delta. Two of her papers were accepted at undergraduate research conferences, one of which led to a research grant for travel to continue her research on Latina/Chicana dramatic literature. She earned places on the 2002 and 2003 Northwest Forensic Conference All-Conference teams. As a finalist for the NFC’s Coaches’ Commemorative Award for the region’s top forensics competitor, she is assured of making the 2005 All-Conference First Team. The five trophies she won at the 2003 and 2005 Pi Kappa Delta National Tournaments were instrumental in helping the Boise State team achieve third and first places finishes at those national tournaments. Henke was commended by the All-American selection committee for her record of volunteer service that matches her academic and forensic accomplishments.

Rammell-O’Brien is majoring in communication/English with an emphasis in humanities and rhetoric. Her citation from the All-American selection committee noted that she is one of the most versatile competitors in the nation, as evidenced by the number of awards she has won in a wide range of forensics events, including Parliamentary Debate, Persuasive Speaking, Informative Speaking, Rhetorical Analysis, Speech to Entertain, Broadcast Journalism, Impromptu Speaking, Dramatic Interpretation, Prose Interpretation and Program Oral Interpretation. She was a member of the Northwest Forensics Conference All-Conference teams in 2003 and 2004 and as a finalist for this year’s NFC Coaches’ Commemorative Award, she is assured of First-Team All-Conference honors again in 2005. Her extensive list of service accomplishments includes serving as Student Lieutenant Governor for Pi Kappa Delta’s Great West Region for two years and as co-captain of the 2003-04 and 2004-05 Boise State forensics teams.

Henke and Rammell-O’Brien are the third and fourth All-Americans from Boise State, joining Jaime Thompson Bott (1999) and Ken Rock (2003) as recipients of the honor.

The open tournament is the nation’s oldest and largest team competition among four-year schools with forensics programs. More than 470 competitors representing 72 schools from 29 states participated in the four-day event. Boise State finished third at the national tournament in 1995 and again in 2003.

In addition, Boise State assistant forensics coach Jeff Stoppenhagen received Pi Kappa Delta’s Carolyn Keefe Outstanding Alumni Award for his service to the organization.

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Contact: Marty Most, forensics director, (208) 426-1920, mmost@boisestate.edu

Media contact: Kathleen Craven, University Relations, (208) 426-3275, kcraven@boisestate.edu

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Last reviewed on Thursday, December 22, 2005