2017-18 Season
2017-2018 Results
Rice Speech and Debate Starts Year with 27 Awards!
The George R. Brown Forensics Society, Rice’s speech and debate team, has been hard at work representing Rice with distinction around the nation! The team has recruited a hard-working group of first-year students and has returned some very talented veterans. Rice has had success, qualifying events early for speech nationals and positioning debaters highly in the national rankings. The team of Sonia Torres and Jason Barton are currently ranked 9th in the nation out of 140 ranked teams. The squad has won 24 awards since September 14.
Below are results up to October 20, 2017
Lewis & Clark College, Portland, OR 10/14-1
Rice did very well at this difficult tournament. JV debaters preformed especially well on their first away tournament. Each reached elimination rounds and the team of Gennifer Geer and Annie Chen appeared in the final round.
23 schools, 67 debate teams
Annie Chen and Gennifer Geer: 2nd place Junior Varsity Debate
Jason Barton: 6th Overall Varsity Debate Speaker (out of 84)
Sonia Torres: 12th Overall Varsity Debate Speaker (out of 84)
Natalie Zur: 4th Overall Junior Varsity Debate Speaker (out of 46)
Annie Chen: 7th Overall Junior Varsity Debate Speaker (out of 46)
Natlie Zur and Cole Lambo: Semifinalists, Junior Varsity Debate
Amy Lin and Joel Abraham: Semifinalists, Junior Varsity Debate
Maddy Scannell and Hunter Adams: Quarterfinalists, Junior Varsity Debate
Rice won 23 separate debates overall
George Mason University/James Madison University:
226 speech entries from 9 schools. This was a two-tournament event. In addition to the competition, students were treated to a tour of the United States Supreme Court as well as the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
First Tournament:
Gennifer Geer: 4th Place Informative Speaking; 6th Place Informative Speaking
Second Tournament:
Summar McGee: 5th Place After Dinner Speaking
Gennifer Geer: 7nd Place After Dinner Speaking
Rice University Classic, 9/29-10/1
Rice hosted Competitors from around the nation at the 5th annual Rice University Classic. The tournament continues to grow in prominence and is becoming one of the most competitive on the yearly schedule. The tournament was also a good practice run for the National Round Robin, an elite debate event that Rice will host in February 2018. This even will bring the very best debaters from the nation to campus for the first event in “nationals season” for the year.
Debate: 23 debate teams from 8 schools. 6 states represented.
Rice won 3rd Place Debate Sweepstakes
Sonia Torres and Jason Barton: Quarterfinals, Parliamentary Debate
Jason Barton 10th Overall Debate Speaker
Sonia Torres 17th Overall Debate Speaker
Rice Won 15 separate debates.
Individual Speech Events:
9 schools. 199 Entries. Two separate tournaments plus a combined sweepstakes award.
Overall Swing Sweepstakes (a measure of the combined performance for both tournaments): 3rd Place.
First Tournament:
Gennifer Geer: 3rd Place Extemporaneous Speaking
Lauren Palladino: 5th Place Extemporaneous Speaking
Second Tournament:
3rd Place Sweepstakes
Gennifer Geer: 1st Place Informative Speaking; 4th Place Extemporaneous Speaking
Lauren Palladino: 4th Place Impromptu Speaking
Madison Blattel: 4th Place Persuasive Speaking
Bella Bunten: 4th Place Informative Speaking
Bria Murray: 3rd Place After Dinner Speaking
Colorado College, 10/7-8
19 schools. 570 entries. Rice took a small contingent to this speech nationals preview.
Gennifer Geer: 5th Place Extemporaneous Speaking
William Jewell College, 9/15-17, 2017
Rice’s varsity debaters were very successful at this debate season opener that showcases the best in the nation.
42 teams from 16 schools.
Sonia Torres and Jason Barton: Octofinalists, Parliamentary Debate.
Jason Barton: 15th Overall Debate Speaker (out of 84)
Sonia Torres: 16th Overall Debate Speaker (out of 84)
Rice won 5 separate debates, winning the first 5 rounds of the year (and their first 5 debates as partners) back to back. They were the 8th seed, giving them a bye through the double-octofinal.
Rice Speech and Debate Brings Home 36 Awards, Prepares for Nationals Run
The George R. Brown Forensics Society, Rice’s intercollegiate competitive speech and debate team, has been hard at work representing Rice with distinction this semester. Housed in the School of Humanities, the team develops is constantly working to improve its skills in argumentation, performance, and critical thinking. The team has taken its rhetorical skills to competitions at the local, regional, and national levels and has brought home 36 awards so far this semester. As the team prepares for its run at nationals, please take a moment to congratulate these students on their exceptional performance at these academic competitions.
University of Utah
This is the traditional Spring semester opener for many of the top teams in the nation in both speech and debate. This event features two complete tournaments in both speech and debate.
First Tournament
Sweepstakes: 1st Place
Bria Murray: 1st Place After Dinner Speaking
Gennifer Geer: 1st Place Communication Analysis
Isaiah Rodriguez: 2nd Place After Dinner Speaking
Bria Murray: 1st Place Programmed Oral Interpretation
Gennifer Geer: 3th Place Programmed Oral Interpretation
Sonia Torres and Jason Barton: doubleoctaflinalists, debate
Amy Lin and Joel Abraham: doubleoctaflinalists, debate
Overall Rice won 7 separate debates
Second Tournament
Sweepstakes: 2nd Place
Overall Swing Sweepstakes: 1st Place
Isaiah Rodriguez: 1st Place After Dinner Speaking; 4th Place Persuasive Speaking
Lauren Palladino: 1st Place Extemporaneous Speaking; 1st Place Informative Speaking; 4th Impromptu Speaking
Bria Murray and Gennifer Geer: 2nd Place Dramatic Duo
Bria Murray: 4th Place Programmed Oral Interpretation
Gennifer Geer: 3th Place Programmed Oral Interpretation
Amy Lin and Joel Abraham: quarterflinalists, debate
Overall Rice won 7 separate debates
University of Texas at Austin
Attracting the top speech teams in the nation, this tournament is often more difficult than nationals. Elimination round participants often go on to be national champions in the same year.
Gennifer Geer, semifinalist Extemporaneous Speaking
Texas Tech University
Annie Chen, Sonia Torres
A regional tournament that features a small and very competitive draw. This results in a set of focused highly quality debates.
Sonia Torres and Annie Chen: Quarterfinalists, debate
Sonia Torres: 7th Overall Debate Speaker
Overall Rice won 6 separate debates
University of Missouri
Attracting the best from the center third of the country, this this tournament is essential preparation for the nationals run.
Sonia Torres and Jason Barton: octaflinalists, debate
Amy Lin and Joel Abraham: octaflinalists, debate
Gennifer Geer and Franz Brotzen: octaflinalists, debate
Annie Chen and Maddy Scannell: doubleoctaflinalists, debate
Amy Lin: 8th Overall Debate Speaker
Overall Rice won 22 separate debates
National Round Robin at Rice University
This elite competition was hosted on the Rice Campus and brought the top teams in Parliamentary debate from around the nation as well as some Rice alumni back to judge. This tournament featured a unique and format that challenged debaters not only to create and deliver strong arguments but also tested their endurance as the top 6 completed 10 very complex debates in about just two short days. This tournament used ballot counts rather than wins and losses.
Sonia Torres and Jason Barton: 6Th Place, 8 ballots
Jason Barton: 10th Overall Debate Speaker
Amy Lin and Joel Abraham: 5 ballots
Battle of Flowers Historical Speech Contest in San Antonio, TX
Gennifer Geer: 3rd Place. Speech title: “Margaret Borland: Don’t Mess With Texas Women”
“Speech on the Beach” in Corpus Christi, TX
First Tournament
Summar McGee: After Dinner Speaking 2nd place, Communication Analysis 4th Place
Second Tournament
Summar McGee: After Dinner Speaking 2nd place, Communication Analysis 4th Place
American Forensics Association National Individual Events Tournament at the University of Oklahoma.
Part of the qualification process for speech nationals.
Madison Blattel 3rd Place Persuasive Speaking
Sumar Communication Analysis 5th Place
Lauren Palladino Impromptu Speaking 4th Place
These results set the stage for “Nationals Season,” which begins after Spring Break. Rice will be represented at the National Parliamentary Debate Association National Championship (NPDA) by teams of two composed of the following students: Sonia Torres and Jason Barton, Amy Lin and Joel Abraham, Annie Chen and Maddie Scannell, and Gennifer Geer with Natalie Zur. After NPDA, Torres/Barton and Lin/Abraham will represent Rice at the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence (NPTE).
After NPDA and NPTE, at the National Individual Events Tournament (speech nationals) Rice will be represented by Gennifer Geer, Sumar McGee, Bria Murray, and Lauren Palladino.
Rice Finishes Nationals Run in the top 20 in the Nation With Young Team
The George R. Brown Forensics Society, Rice’s intercollegiate speech and debate team, finished the year in the top twenty in the nation. After graduating a large group of seniors last year, the team preformed very well this year with a group that included only one senior and two juniors. The rest of the team was composed of first-years and sophomores, making the team’s overall finish a significant achievement for a young team.
Housed in the School of Humanities, the team is known nationally as a consistent presence near the top of the rankings thanks to its continued emphasis on excellence in rhetorical, argumentation, and performance skills. This year was particularly significant as the team sought to apply (and update where possible) these ancient skills to contemporary social justice problems.
The results of Rice’s “Nationals Season” are listed below.
National Parliamentary Debate Association National Championship, Portland Oregon. 129 teams from 46 schools.
Rice was represented at NPDA by teams of two composed of the following students: Sonia Torres and Jason Barton, Amy Lin and Joel Abraham, Annie Chen and Maddie Scannell, and Gennifer Geer with Natalie Zur.
Tournament Sweepstakes: 16th in the nation.
Season Sweepstakes: 17th in the nation.
Torres and Barton: Triple Octafinalists, Debate.
Rice won 15 separate debates.
National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence, Portland Oregon.
After NPDA, Torres/Barton and Lin/Abraham represented Rice at the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence (NPTE). Invitation to this elite tournament is based on wins over the course of the season.
Torres and Barton reached Elimination Round 3 and earned a final rank of of 19th in the tournament.
Lin and Abraham reached Elimination Round 2 and earned a final rank of 30th in the tournament.
The NPTE uses a mix of ballot counts and wins to determine winners. Rice won the equivalent of 10 separate debates.
American Forensics Association National Individual Events Tournament, Colorado Springs, CO. 1400 entries from 59 schools.
Rice was represented at this speech national championship by qualifiers Gennifer Geer, Summar McGee, Bria Murray, and Lauren Palladino. To qualify for this event, competitors had to reach finals at three regular season tournaments in each event and finish such that the sum of their placings equaled 8 or less. While the team did not advance any speakers to elimination rounds, the rigorous qualification requirements mean that even reaching the tournament is a honor. Rice’s qualifying events are listed below.
Madison Blattel: Persuasive Speaking
Gennifer Geer: Communication Analysis, Extemporaneous Speaking, Impromptu Speaking, Informative Speaking
Summar McGee: Communication Analysis, Persuasive Speaking
Lauren Palladino: Extemporaneous Speaking, Impromptu Speaking
Bria Murray: After Dinner Speaking
This completes the competitive year for Rice Speech and Debate. The team will resume competition in Fall 2018.