U of A Speech and Debate Places First in Final Tournament of Semester

The U of A Speech and Debate Society competed in the final tournament of the fall semester this past weekend, entering competitors at the University of Jamestown "Jimmie Jingle Virtual Tournament." Competing against 18 schools across 12 states, the U of A Speech and Debate Society saw Hadley Adkison, Matthew Cook, Megan Dial, Maddie Fritz, Max Green, Austin Keefe, Jaci Sabatini, Benjamin Shoptaw and Aubree Watkins positively represent campus and bring home plenty of accolades. Those are as follows:

• 5th Place Team IPDA Speaker - Austin Keefe
• 2nd Place Team IPDA Speaker - Max Green
• 1st Place Team IPDA Speaker - Hadley Adkison
• Quarterfinalists TIPDA - Max Green and Jaci Sabatini
• Finalists TIPDA - Adkison and Keefe (first finals appearance) 
• Novice Octofinalist - Maddie Fritz (first time competing in an outround) 
• Varsity Octofinalist - Adkison
• Professional Semifinalist - Sabatini 
• TIPDA 1st Place Sweepstakes 
• IPDA 3rd Place Overall Sweepstakes 

This tournament was significant, as it marked the first 1st Place Sweepstakes award the team has ever received in a regular tournament.  Notably, the team earned 10 awards total, pushing the overall number earned this semester to 46. The team will take a break until Jan. 19, when they will travel back to Shreveport, Louisiana, to compete in the Southern Forensics Championship Tournament, the second-largest tournament in the IPDA and the offical state championship tournament for Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi.

Coach Hannah Morris is an Arkansas state representative for this tournament and will also be giving up the reigning Coach of the Year position, for which she was awarded the designation in the 2022-23 season. 

The team would like to extend their thanks again to the U of A Department of History for its continued support. If you are interested in joining the U of A Speech and Debate Society, please contact president Megan Dial at mmdial@uark.edu or coach Hannah Morris at hannahm@uark.edu.