JR Saling won championships in both Extemporaneous Speaking and IPDA debate at the International Forensics Association championship tournament, held March 11-12 in Dublin, Ireland.

JR Saling (CAS ’24) secured the Brent Northup award for the top individual student in the Northwest Forensics conference, as the team earned a season-long gold medal with championships in British Parliamentary debate, IPDA debate and individual speaking events.

The nationals season for LC speech and debate was once again a successful one as the speech team finished eighth nationally, led by a runner-up performance by Eden Kenney (’23) in Informative Speaking, a pair of third place finishes by Syl Knauss (’24) in Dramatic Interpretation, a third place showing in Duo Interpretation by Kenney and partner Catie McCarty (’24), and a sixth place performance in After-Dinner Speaking by Gavin Patchet (’23). The British Parliamentary team of Johnny Nieters (’24) and Alice Sauter (’24) added a semifinal appearance at the YODL Championships, and the Lincoln-Douglas and IPDA squads both recorded team finishes in eighth place nationally as well.

On March 20, Lewis & Clark’s speech and debate team took center stage for Night Before Nationals, an exhibition event that showcases the team’s talents and skills in front of an enthusiastic campus audience.

Competing in both Washington and Missouri, Lewis & Clark’s speech and debate team racked up multiple championships over the January 27-29 weekend, headed by senior Eden Kenney who was awarded both the individual championship of the Dugaw Smelt classic and the Brent Northup award for season-long outstanding individual competitor for the Northwest Forensics Conference in 2022-2023.

Ally Knighton (’21) and Aaron Lutz (’22) made history in the Northwest Forensics Conference by tying for the Coaches Commemorative Award, granted to the student who performs the best across three designated regional championships throughout the season. Their win was the fifth consecutive CCA award from Lewis & Clark, which was also honored with the gold medal for overall team performance.

Highlighted by Jacob Wisda’s second consecutive win of a prestigious Northwest award, Lewis & Clark’s forensics team ended the fall semester with historic performances at the Linfield College tournament held November 18-20.

2015 has gotten off to a fast start for Lewis & Clark forensics, as both the debate and individual events teams have had significant successes to open the spring semester.