Gateway Speech Team performs well in Owensboro tournament

Published on Feb 27, 2018

The Gateway Community & Technical College speech team took home several awards during the 2018 Kentucky Forensics Association State Tournament on February 16 and 17 at Owensboro Community & Technical College.

Katie Curry placed sixth place in Poetry Interpretation and sixth place in Novice International Public Debate Association (IPDA) Speaker.

Adam Luhner placed seventh in Novice IPDA Speaker.

Sawyer Edelbroich placed seventh in Communication Analysis, Top Community College Competitor in Informative Speaking, Persuasive Speaking, After Dinner Speaking, Communication Analysis, and Quadrathon. A Quadrathon is an event that competitors are entered into if they compete in at least four individual speaking events at a tournament.

Stewart Newburger won Top Novice in Poetry Interpretation, Top Community College Competitor in Poetry Interpretation, Top Novice in After Dinner Speaking, and the Harlan Hamm Award.

To win one of the four a Harlan Hamm awards, a student must be nominated by their coach and then approved by a majority vote of the Kentucky Forensics Association (KFA) Coaches. The award is given to a student who demonstrates excellent leadership skills, sportsmanship, and overall represents their school as well as KFA in a good light.

“I’m very proud of our speech team and all of their hard word,” said Gateway director of forensics and associate professor, Randy DeBerry.

Gateway will host the Florence Y’all Classic Speech and Debate Tournament March 2 and 3 at the Boone Campus.

Learn more about the speech team and other student organizations at Gateway here.