Members of Howard Payne University’s Student Speaker Bureau fared well at recent tournaments. Six students traveled to Seattle to compete in the Northwest Parli Warm-up Tournament at Bellevue College, while four competed at the Newly New Newbie Novice Tournament at Tarrant County College in Hurst.

The teams are coached by Dr. Julie Welker, professor of communication, and Kim Bryant, associate professor of communication.

HPU students placing in the Seattle tournament were Jake Aschmutat, junior, from Corpus Christi, sixth place in Open Extemporaneous Speaking and first place in Impromptu Speaking; Adam Hardy, senior, from Corpus Christi, third place in Open Impromptu Speaking; Timothy Hardy, sophomore, from Corpus Christi, third place in Junior Impromptu Speaking and sixth place in Extemporaneous Speaking; Cayden McDonald, freshman, from Whitehouse, first place in Junior Extemporaneous Speaking, fifth place in Junior Impromptu Speaking and seventh place in Junior Parliamentary Debate; and Ben Palmer, sophomore, from Van, seventh place in Junior Extemporaneous Speaking. Also competing was Jessica Ramirez, a sophomore from Bangs.

“The northwest is typically known as one of the toughest regions in speech and debate competition,” Welker said. “To have five of our six students competing there place in finals is simply outstanding, and having two first place winners was just the icing on the cake.”

HPU students who placed in the novice tournament were Marcos Corley, a freshman from Corpus Christi, sixth place in Persuasive Speaking; Sara Hopson, a sophomore from Brownwood, fifth place in Persuasive Speaking; and Maitreyee Nigalye, a junior from Brownwood, first place in Persuasive Speaking and second place in After Dinner Speaking. Also competing was Adrianna Perez, a freshman from Sachse.

“Our novice team made such a strong showing at their first tournament,” Welker said. “The fact that three of the four students advanced to finals is impressive. We are building a great program and I’m excited to see what this team is going to achieve.”

Pictured above:  Members of HPU’s Student Speaker Bureau recently competed at a tournament in Seattle. They are, from left, Ben Palmer, Jessica Ramirez, Adam Hardy, Cayden McDonald, Dr. Julie Welker (coach), Jake Aschmutat and Timothy Hardy.