Saling wins two titles at International Forensics Association championship tournament
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.
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In 2022, Lewis & Clark speech and debate began to take its competitors across the globe.
In 2024, L&C brought the globes back to Palatine Hill.
JR Saling (CAS ’24) won championships in both Extemporaneous Speaking and IPDA debate at the International Forensics Association championship tournament, held March 11-12 in Dublin, Ireland. The victories represent the first time that L&C has won a championship tournament abroad.
In Extemporaneous Speaking, Saling gave four total speeches, each given with 30 minutes of preparation time over topics of US, Irish and international significance. Her speech in the final over the topic of the improvement of democratic conditions in the Democratic Republic of Congo earned her the top placing out of 94 students from 33 institutions.
In IPDA debate, Saling placed first out of 97 entries from 25 institutions. Saling won each and every debate round, including four preliminary debates and five consecutive elimination round debates. She defeated a debater from Point Loma Nazarene University in the final, affirming the topic of “Amazon is causing more harm than good” on a 2-1 decision of the judging panel.
Saling’s successes were joined by fellow senior competitors Syl Knauss (CAS ’24), who advanced to the semifinal rounds in Prose Interpretation, Dramatic Interpretation and Program Oral Interpretation, as well as Josie Stenzel (CAS ’24) who was a quarterfinalist in IPDA debate.
The IFA tournament was the third time that the L&C team had traveled abroad for competition. The British Parliamentary team previously entered the World Universities Debating Championships, held in Spain and Vietnam in 2022 and 2023, respectively. The IFA entry, made up of L&C’s senior class, expanded these opportunities to speech events and to IPDA debate.
“I’m so proud of JR and the squad of seniors that traveled to Dublin for IFA”, said Director of Speech and Debate Joe Gantt. “These were incredibly talented fields of competition, and these championships represent a new chapter in our team’s history. The trip was not just about the competition, however; international travel for our team allows our students the opportunity for cultural enrichment while doing the activity they love.”
The L&C team is currently preparing for national championships which will take place after spring break. Interested observers can see the team in action on campus on March 18, the Night Before Nationals event which will feature speech performances and an exhibition debate against the Irish Times champion debaters.
