The Boise State speech and debate team, the Talkin’ Broncos, continued their 2024-25 season with a first-place overall sweepstakes finish at the Steve Hunt Classic Oct. 11-13, hosted by Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Ore. The tournament included competitors from Texas, Illinois, Louisiana, Wyoming, Utah, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Vermont.
Open public debate results
Allie Hampton (junior, Meridian) received the first-place speaker award and finished as a quarterfinalist, while Kiryn Willet (junior, Boise) received the second-place speaker award and finished as an octo-finalist. Anthony Thomas (sophomore, Meridian) received the seventh-place speaker award.
In Junior Public Debate, Adam Pendergrass (sophomore, Nampa) and Ari Ashby (freshman, Idaho Falls) both finished as quarterfinalists with Ashby receiving the first-place speaker award and Pendergrass receiving the third-place speaker award. Sam Kleman (freshman, Boise) finished as an octo-finalist, while Jaxon Holmes (sophomore, Garden City) received the second-place speaker award and Angel Dang (sophomore, Idaho Falls) received the tenth-place speaker award.
In Novice Public Debate, Cadence Marang (sophomore, Nampa) finished as a quarterfinalist and received the seventh-place speaker award while Jesse Madison (freshman, Meridian) finished as an octo-finalist and received the ninth-place speaker award.
Individual event results
Dang led the Talkin’ Broncos with first-place finishes in the junior division of extemporaneous speaking, impromptu speaking, informative speaking and a second-place finish in junior prose interpretation. Hampton took first place in prose interpretation and second place in informative speaking and received third place overall in the tournament speech championship. Ryan Wind (sophomore, Meridian) took first place in after-dinner speaking and third place in both junior extemporaneous speaking and prose interpretation. Pendergrass took first place in junior persuasive speaking, fourth place in junior extemporaneous speaking and fifth place in duo interpretation. Ivan Markevych (sophomore, Kremenchuk, Poltava region, Ukraine) took first place in junior prose interpretation.
Kleman was the top junior competitor in communication analysis and took fourth place in junior impromptu. Marang was the top novice competitor in prose interpretation and took second place in both impromptu and extemporaneous speaking. Madison was the top novice competitor in informative speaking and took third place in novice impromptu speaking.
Other top competitors included Ashby, who took second place in junior extemporaneous speaking and fourth place in junior informative speaking; Chloe Sellers (junior, Twin Falls), who took third place in both after-dinner speaking and program oral interpretation; Holmes, who took fifth place in duo interpretation; and Bridget Gibson (sophomore, Boise), who took sixth place in junior extemporaneous speaking.
What’s to come
The Talkin’ Broncos continue their 2024-25 season with their second designated conference tournament, the Mahaffey Memorial, hosted by Linfield College in McMinnville, Ore.
The Talkin’ Broncos are supported in part through the generosity of the Jeker Family Trust. For more information about the team, contact Manda Hicks, director of forensics at Boise State.