The McNeese State University Debate Team was successful at the recent Hill Country Swing Tournament, which was split between Texas State University in San Marcos and the University of Texas at Austin.

At Texas State, Cody Hensarling, a junior from Kailua, Hawaii, took first place in extemporaneous speaking and placed fourth in after dinner speaking and persuasion, while Holly Burns, a junior from Kingwood, Texas, made the semi-finals in the prose competition. Overall, the team placed third behind Kansas State University and UT-Austin.

At UT-Austin, Hensarling was tournament champion in impromptu speaking, after dinner speaking and extemporaneous speaking. She also won the individual sweepstakes trophy. The team again placed third behind Texas State and Kansas State.

The McNeese team took second place in the overall tournament and Hensarling took the individual overall sweepstakes trophy.  The team’s next tournament is the Forum in the Forest Swing hosted by Lonestar College-Kingwood and Rice University.