From April 11-15, the U of A Speech and Debate Society competed at the IPDA National Tournament, bringing 19 students competing in five different divisons.

In the Team division, we had Watkins/Hall, Keefe/Adkison, Nichols/Lay, Rehbock/Dial, Thurmon/Barrentine and Cook/Neugebauer. The Novice division consisted of Colten Nichols, Jennifer Lopez, Maddie Fritz, Rhea Neugebauer and Molly Lay. Junior Varsity consisted of Aubree Watkins, Benjamin Shoptaw, Daisy Rehbock, Dylan Hall, Gavin Michau and Matthew Cook. Varsity debaters were Austin Keefe, Hadley Adkison, Luke Thurmon and Sophie Barrentine. Pro debaters were Jaci Sabatini and Megan Dial.

After four days of competition, the Speech and Debate Society brought home 24 trophies, including a national speaking champion and 4th place team in the nation!

Hadley Adkison: 5th Place Season Long Team Speaker, Team Octofinalist, Varisty Quarterfinalist
Max Green: 4th Place Season Long Team Speaker
Jaci Sabatini: 7th Place Season Long Pro Debater, 6th Pro Speaker
Aubree Watkins: Team Double Octofinalist, National JV Speaking Champion, JV Semifinalist
Dylan Hall: Team Double Octofinalist, 4th JV Speaker, JV Quarterfinalist
Megan Dial: Team Double Octofinalist
Daisy Rehbock: Team Double Octofinalist, JV Double Octofinalist
Sophie Barrentine: Team Double Octofinalist
Luke Thurmon: Team Double Octofinalist
Austin Keefe: Team Octofinalist, 10th Place Varsity Speaker, Varsity Double Octofinalist
Maddie Fritz: Novice Triple Octofinalsit
Colten Nichols: Novice Double Octofinalist
Rhea Neugebauer: Novice Octofinalist
4th Place Founders

The Speech and Debate Society would like to thank the History Department for its continuous support, as well as Fulbright College and the College of Engineering for funding the trip. For more information, please reach out to current president, Megan Dial, at mmdial@uark.edu or upcoming president Sophie Barrentine at ssb012@uark.edu.