FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Contact: Dave Wellman, Director of Communications (304) 696-7153
Thundering Word wins state speech and debate tournament again
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Victoria Ledford, a junior from Braxton, W.Va., was the overall individual champion this past weekend as she helped Marshall University’s Thundering Word win the West Virginia Intercollegiate Forensic Association’s (WVIFA) state championship for the third consecutive year.
The speech and debate competition took place Feb. 22-23 on the campus of West Virginia University-Parkersburg. WVU-Parkersburg took second place, Alderson-Broaddus was third and Fairmont State was fourth.
Ledford, an honors pre-med chemistry major, placed first in Pentathlon, which is a student’s best five events, with 103 points. She also was fourth in Dramatic Interpretation; second in Poetry Interpretation; first in Duo Interpretation with Christian Adams; second in Persuasion, first in Rhetorical Criticism, second in Informative and fourth in Impromptu.
Marshall team members reached the final round in 43 of the 45 individual slots they had in the competition, winning first place in every individual event, second in 10 of the events and third in eight of them. The team dominated the rest of the state in the competition.
Other Marshall students in the competition were:
- Christian Adams, a junior honors pre-med Psychology major from Culloden, W.Va., who was second in pentathlon with 94 points. Along with his state championship in Duo with Ledford, he placed first in Prose Interpretation, fourth in Poetry, fourth in Duo with Marji McCoy, first in After-Dinner Speaking and third in Impromptu.
- Marji McCoy, a sophomore honors pre-med chemistry major from Beckley, W.Va., who was also second in Duo with Josh Gainer. She also placed third in Persuasion and third in Prose.
- Juliet Djietror, a sophomore pre-med biology major from Ghana, who was third in Pentathlon, scoring 74 points overall. She was the state champion in Persuasion, fourth in Dramatic Interpretation, sixth in Prose, third in Duo with Josh Gainer and fourth in Extemporaneous Speaking.
- Matt Osteen, a sophomore honors pre-med chemistry major from Harpers Ferry, W.Va., who was fourth in pentathlon with 73 points. Osteen placed first in Extemporaneous Speaking, second in Lincoln Douglas Debate and was second-best Speaker in Debate, sixth in Programmed Oral Interpretation and second in Rhetorical Criticism.
- Garrett Walker, a sophomore sociology major from Shady Spring, W.Va., who was sixth in pentathlon with 69 points. Garrett was first in Impromptu Speaking, fourth in Rhetorical Criticism, fourth in Informative and second in Extemporaneous Speaking.
- Joe Garton, a junior Finance major from Huntington, W.V., who was a semifinalist in Lincoln Douglas Debate and the third-best speaker. This was Garton’s first time competing.
- Erin Jorden, a freshman history education major from Wheeling, W.Va., who was second in Prose, sixth in Dramatic Interpretation and fifth in Poetry.
- Taryss Mandt, a freshman University College student from Arlington, Va., who was first in Informative Speaking, second in After-Dinner Speaking, second in Dramatic Interpretation, third in Poetry Interpretation and second in Programmed Oral Interpretation.
- Josh Gainer, a junior political science major from Parkersburg, W.Va., who was second and fourth in Duo Interpretation, first in Poetry, first in Dramatic Interpretation, first in Programmed Oral Interpretation and fourth in Prose Interpretation.
Marshall next competes in the Pi Kappa Delta National Tournament in March and the NFA national tournament, which will be held in April on Marshall’s Huntington campus.
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For further information, contact:
Office of University Communications
Marshall University
213 Old Main | Huntington, WV 25755-1090
Fax: (304) 696-3197
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