2015-16 Season

The George R. Brown Forensics Society, Rice’s intercollegiate speech and debate team, has been hard at work representing Rice with distinction. Below is an update on the team’s recent successes.

UT-Austin and Texas State San Marcos: “Hill Country Swing.” 9/17-18

Rice was well-represented at this traditional season opener for speech. Senior Allison McKibban single-handedly defeated other squads of multiple competitors, setting the tone for a successful Rice Season.

14 schools
531 individual event entries
Overall Swing Sweeps: 3rd school overall
Allison McKibban: 2nd Individual Swing Sweepstakes

Part 1
Sweepstakes: 3rd
Allison McKibban:
1st Communication Analysis
2ndExtemporaneous Speaking
1st Impromptu Speaking
2nd Sweepstakes Individual

Part 2
Allison McKibban:
2nd Communication Analysis
2nd Extemporaneous Speaking
1st Impromptu Speaking
3rd Sweepstakes Individual

Rice University: Rice University Classic 9/23-25
Overall Swing Sweepstakes: 2nd
Rice hosted 16 schools fielding 452 individual event entries and 30 debate entries
Rice alumni judged and helped out, as Rice students did double duty, both hosting and competing.

Part 1
Sweepstakes: 4th
Vera Ranneft and Franz Brotzen-Smith tied for first with Michael Portal and Sonia Torres, closing out finals in debate!
Allison McKibban and Natalie Zur: Quarterfinals in debate
Jason Barton and Ausitn Tang: Octo-finals in debate

Debate Speaker Awards
Vera Ranneft 1st
Allison McKibban 5th
Rice won 23 separate debates.

Part 2
Sweepstakes: 2nd
Allison McKibban
4th Extemporaneous Speaking
5th Communication Analysis
3rd Impromptu Speaking

Matt Proffitt
6th Extemporaneous Speaking
2nd Impromptu Speaking

Isaiah Rodriguez
5th After Dinner Speaking/Speech to Entertain

George Mason University Tournament 10/1-2

The nation’s top teams met in this early season speech tournament in Fairfax, VA. 13 schools, 160 entries.

Overall Swing Sweepstakes: 3rd

Part 1
Sweepstakes: 4th
Allison McKibban:
3rd Impromptu Speaking
1st Extemporaneous Speaking
2nd Communication Analysis
3rd Individual Sweepstakes

Part 2
Sweepstakes: 3rd
Allison McKibban
1st Individual Sweepstakes
2nd Communication Analysis
3rd Extemporaneous Speaking
3rd Impromptu Speaking
4th Persuasive Speaking

Matt Proffitt
1st Impromptu Speaking
4th Extemporaneous Speaking

Tia Liu
6th Persuasive Speaking

Lewis & Clark College
56 teams from 21 schools
Three teams represented Rice at this tournament of some of the best debaters in the nation.

Sonia Torres and Natalie Zur: 2nd Place Junior Varsity Debate
Sonia Torres: 9th Overall Debate speaker (JV)
Rice won 13 separate debates.

Bayou Swing—Houston, TX, October 21-23. This regional set of two tournaments featured 17 universities and colleges with 460 speech entries and 44 debate entries.

Team Award: 4th Overall Sweepstakes for combined tournaments

First Tournament
Matt Proffitt and Allison McKibban—Tournament Champions, undefeated (6-0) in the tournament.
Allison McKibban; 1st Impromptu Speaking, 1st Persuasive Speaking, Top Overall Debate Speaker.
Matt Proffitt: 1st in Extemporaneous Speaking, 5th Persuasive Speaking 1st in Impromptu Speaking, 2nd Overall Debate Speaker.
Tia Liu: 5th in Persuasive Speaking

Second Tournament
Matt Proffitt: 2nd in Extemporaneous Speaking, 4th Persuasive Speaking
Allison McKibban: 2nd in Persuasive Speaking
Gennifer Geer: Semifinalist in Informative Speaking

Colorado College--October 28-30. This regional tournament featured 16 universities and colleges, with 49 debate entries and 172 speech entries.
Rice won 10 debates overall

Matt Proffitt and Jason Barton: Quarterfinalists in debate
Overall Sweepstakes: 2nd
Speech Sweepstakes: 1st

Matt Proffitt: 1st in Impromptu Speaking, 1st in Informative Speaking, 1st in Persuasive Speaking, 10th Overall Debate Speaker
Allison McKibban: 1st in Communication Analysis, 3rd in Impromptu Speaking, 2nd in Informative Speaking
Gennifer Geer: 1st in Extemporaneous Speaking
Summar McGee: 2nd In After Dinner Speaking, 3rd in Persuasive Speaking
Tia Liu: 3rd in Extemporaneous Speaking, 5th in Persuasive Speaking
Michael Portal: 8th Overall Debate Speaker

University of the Pacific—November 4-6. This tournament featured 344 individual event entries and 84 debate entries from 20 Universities and colleges separated into two open tournaments and one invitation-only round robin.

Round Robin

The first day featured 8 of the very best teams in the nation, selected by competitive application. Rice was awarded 2 slots, which is very unusual and quite an honor. The team of Vera Ranneft and Franz Brotzen-Smith won the round robin with 6 wins, defeating a former national champion, bringing the championship trophy for this event back to Rice for the first time since 2010. Additionally, Vera Ranneft was selected as the top speaker for the event.

The team of Michael Portal and Sonia Torres also qualified and represented Rice very well, losing some very close debates.

First Tournament
Speech Sweepstakes: 2nd overall
Matthew Proffitt: 1st in Impromptu Speaking, 2nd in Informative Speaking, 2nd Persuasive SpeakingIsaiah Rodriguez: 1st
in After Dinner Speaking, 4th in Extemporaneous Speaking
Tia Liu: 1st in Persuasive Speaking, 2nd in Extemporaneous Speaking
Summar McGee; 3rd in Persuasive Speaking

Second tournament
Speech Sweeps: 2nd

Debate Results:
Varsity Debate: Michael Portal and Sonia Torres: 2nd Place
Matt Proffitt and Jason Barton: Semifinalists
Vera Ranneft and Franz Brotzen-Smith: Quarterfinalists

JV Debate:
Natalie Zur and hybrid partner from Pacific: 2nd Place

Debate Speaker Awards:
Matt Proffitt: 1st
Vera Ranneft: 3rd
Sonia Torres: 5th
Michael Portal: 7th
Rice won 25 debates overall

Speech results:
Matt Proffitt: 1st in Informative
Tia Liu: 1st in Persuasive Speaking
7th in Extemporaneous Speaking
Summar McGee: 2nd in Persuasive Speaking, 3rd After Dinner Speaking
Isaiah Rodriguez: 2nd in After Dinner Speaking, 4th Communication Analysis

Rice wins 28 awards in Utah
Eleven students kicked off the spring semester in a competition at the University of Utah, January 8-10. This multifaceted event featured two separate Speech tournaments and two separate debate tournaments. Results are listed below.

Speech Section
177 entries from 11 schools
Swing Sweeps Overall: 2nd
Qualified 8 events for nationals

Part 1

Overall Sweepstakes: 1st

Persuasive Speaking:
Sylvia Omozee: 3rd

After Dinner Speaking:
Isaiah Rodriguez: 1st
Jacob Mansfield: 3rd

Impromptu Speaking:
Matt Proffitt: 2nd
Delaine Tubbs: 3rd
Jacob Mansfield: 6th

Informative Speaking:
Jacob Mansfield: 1st

Extemporaneous Speaking:
Matt Proffitt: 1st
Delaine Tubbs: 3rd
Jacob Mansfield: 5th
Isaiah Rodriguez: 6th

Communication Analysis:
Sylvia Omozee: 1st
Delaine Tubbs: 5th

Part 2:
Overall Sweepstakes: 2nd

Impromptu Speaking:
Sylvia Omozzee: 1st
Jacob Mansfield: 2nd
Matt Proffitt: 3rd
Delaine Tubbs: 6th

Informative Speaking:
Jacob Mansfield: 2nd
Matt Proffitt: 3rd

Persuasive Speaking:
Sylvia Omozee: 5th

Extemporaneous Speaking:
Jacob Mansfield: 2nd
Isaiah Rodriguez: 3rd

After Dinner Speaking:
Jacob Mansfield: 3rd

Communication Analysis:
Delaine Tubbs: 2nd

Debate Section:
84 teams from 36 schools

Part 1
Michael Portal and Sonia Torres: Triple-Octafinals, Parliamentary Debate
Vera Ranneft and Ryan Sun: Triple-Octafinals, Parliamentary Debate
Rice won 7 separate debates

Part 2
Vera Ranneft and Ryan Sun: Triple-Octafinals, Parliamentary Debate
Rice won 5 separate debates

Elite Competition in Austin January 16-17
Six students from Rice competed at University of Texas at Austin.
This tournament is a kind of “pre-nationals” because of the very high level of competition. Statistically this tournament is more difficult than nationals.
1926 entries from 42 schools

Part 1:
Communication Analysis:
Sylvia Omozee: 6th

Impromptu Speaking:
Allison McKibban: Semifinals

Extemporaneous Speaking:
Matt Proffitt: Semifinals

Part 2:
Impromptu Speaking:
Sylvia Omozee: Semifinals
Matt Proffitt: Semifinals

Extemporaneous Speaking:
Allison McKibban: Semifinals
Matt Proffitt: Semifinals

Texas Tech University January 22-24
Regional competition. 16 teams from 6 schools

Part 1:
Michael Portal and Sonia Torres: Quarterfinals, Parliamentary Debate
Jason Barton and Joel Kim: Quarterfinals, Parliamentary Debate
Michael Portal: 4th Overall Debate Speaker
Rice won 9 separate debates

Part 2:
Jason Barton and Joel Kim: Semifinals, Parliamentary Debate
Michael Portal and Sonia Torres: Quarterfinals, Parliamentary Debate
Michael Portal: 6th Overall Debate Speaker
Joel Kim: 8th Overall Debate Speaker
Rice won 11 separate debates

Texas State Tournament February 6-7

Part 1:
Matthew Profit: Top Overall Debate Speaker
Delaine Tubbs: 3rd Overall Debate Speaker.
Matthew Proffitt and Lanie Tubbs: Semifinalists, Parliamentary Debate, State Champions*

*In a dramatic mistake regarding a 3-0 decision, the tournament recorded the semifinals vote incorrectly. Proffitt and Tubbs should have advanced to finals. The tournament staff has sent an official letter of apology to Rice and have been named co-state-champions.

Jacob Mansfield and Tia Liu: Quarterfinalists, Parliamentary Debate

Part 2: Persuasive Speaking:
Jacob Mansfield: 3rd

After Dinner Speaking:
Jacob Mansfield: 5th

Impromptu Speaking:
Lanie Tubbs: 4th

Extemporaneous Speaking:
Matt Proffitt: 3rd

Loyola-Chicago February 12-14
40 teams from 15 schools. This is a nationals warm-up tournament featuring the most competitive teams in the nation.

Ryan Sun and Vera Ranneft: Double-Octafinalists, parliamentary debate.

Corpus Christi February 19-21
Overall Swing Sweeps: 1st
Overall Swing Individual Sweeps: Sylvia Omozee

Part 1:
Individual Event Sweeps: 1st
Overall Sweeps: 2nd
After Dinner Speaking:
Sylvia Omozee: 1st
Jacob Mansfield: 2nd

Communication Analysis
Sylvia Omozee: 1st

Persuasive Speaking:
Jacob Mansfield: 1st

Extemporaneous Speaking:
Isaiah Rodriguez: 1st

Impromptu Speaking:
Allison McKibban: 1st

Part 2:
Individual Event Sweeps: 2nd
Overall Individual Sweeps:
Sylvia Omozee: 2nd
Lanie Tubbs: 3rd

Prose Interpretation:
Sylvia Omozee: 1st

After Dinner Speaking:
Sylvia Omozee: 2nd

Persuasive Speaking:
Jacob Mansfield: 1st
Lanie Tubbs: 2nd

Extemporaneous Speaking:
Lanie Tubbs: 1st

PVAMU:

Part 1:
After Dinner Speaking:
Sylvia Omozee: 1st

Prose Interpretation:
Sylvia Omozee: 3rd

Part 2:
After Dinner Speaking:
Sylvia Omozee: 2nd

Prose Interpretation:
Sylvia Omozee: 3rd

NPTE
National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence, March 14-16 In Los Angeles, CA

This is a qualification-based tournament composed of 54 highest ranked teams of two in the nation. It is very difficult to qualify for.

Ryan Sun and Vera Ranneft: Double-Octafinals, parliamentary debate. The tournament results are included in the final overall rank. Sun and Ranneft finished the year ranked 30th out of 794 teams ranked by the NPTE.

Rice won 4 debates overall, winning 8 out of 10 prelim ballots (2 judges per debate) and 8 out of 14 ballots overall.

NPDA
National Parliamentary Debate Association National Championship, March 18-21 at California State University Long Beach.

Sweepstakes: 16th Place

3 teams of two represented Rice at the largest college national debate tournament in the nation composed of 164 teams from 55 schools.

Ryan Sun and Vera Ranneft: Double-Octafinals, parliamentary debate. This lost only one preliminary round debate, going 7-1, and was the 4th seed in the elimination bracket (65 teams).

Vera Ranneft: 5th Overall Debate Speaker (out of 328!)

Rice won 15 separate debates.

Additionally, David Worth served as Tournament Director for the national tournament.

AFA-NIET
American Forensics Association National Individual Events Tournament, April 2-4 at the University of Florida.

Six students represented Rice in 22 events at Speech Nationals. This prestigious tournament is composed exclusively of students that have reached finals and placed highly at three separate tournaments in an event. Simply qualifying for the tournament is a tremendous honor. 1445 entries from 68 schools.

Allison McKibban: Semifinalist (top 12 in the nation) in Extemporaneous Speaking (limited preparation analytical speaking on current events).

Sylvia Omozee: Quarterfinalist (top 24) in Persuasive Speaking (manuscript speech that addresses and presents a solution to a contemporary policy or social problem).

Jacob Mansfield: Quarterfinalist (top 24) in Communication Analysis (speech analyzing contemporary communication phenomena from an academic perspective).

Also qualified:
Jacob Mansfield: After Dinner Speaking (speech to entertain), Extemporaneous Speaking, Impromptu Speaking (nearly immediate speaking on proverbial topics), Informative Speaking, Persuasive Speaking.
Allison McKibban: Communication Analysis, Persuasive Speaking, Impromptu Speaking
Sylvia Omozee: After Dinner Speaking, Communication Analysis, Impromptu Speaking, Prose Interpretation
Matt Proffitt: Impromptu Speaking, Extemporaneous Speaking, Persuasive Speaking
Delaine Tubbs: Extemporaneous Speaking, Impromptu Speaking
Isaiah Rodriguez: After Dinner Speaking (speech to entertain)

Public Debate at Trinity University

Rice is tentatively slated to debate Trinity University in an exhibition debate on the upcoming U.S. election in the next two weeks. After that event, Rice will be finished for the year. Scheduling is still being worked out for this event.

Please join us in congratulating these diligent and successful academic competitors on a great season!

Read more: Rice speech and debate team finishes season in the top 20 >>