The McNeese Speech and Debate team continues to have a successful fall semester, bringing in several awards on both the team and individual level from two recent tournaments.

The team placed second in the overall tournament sweepstakes behind University of Texas-Austin at the Forum in the Forest Swing Tournament hosted by Lonestar College-Kingwood (Texas) and by Rice University.

The team won its first sweepstakes championship of the season, taking first in debate sweepstakes, during the first swing of the tournament.

Individual trophy winners included Cody Hensarling, junior from Kilhua, Hawaii, who placed first in extemporaneous speaking and persuasion, second in impromptu speaking and third in after dinner speaking. Hensarling and his debate partner, Lance Schexnider, a senior from Jennings, took second in parliamentary debate.

Hensarling was also the second place overall speaker in debate. Ashton Warnken, senior from Lake Charles, was the eighth place speaker in debate and Schexnider was the 10th place speaker.
At the second half of the swing tournament, the team placed third behind Tyler Junior College and the UT-Austin.

Individual trophies went to Hensarling, who took first place in impromptu speaking and second place in both extemporaneous speaking and persuasion. Schexnider took fourth place in poetry interpretation.

Hensarling was also the number one speaker at this half of the tournament and for the overall swing tournament.

Next, the team competed in the Steve Hunt Classic tournament hosted by Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Ore., where several students placed.

Hensarling and his partner, Julie Mangrum, a junior from Lake Charles, were tournament champions in British parliamentary debate, while Warnken and Schexnider were semi-finalists in this competition, which was the first time McNeese has competed in this new and growing type of debate.

In individual events, Holly Burns, a junior from Kingwood, Texas, was named tournament champion in dramatic interpretation, while Hensarling was named tournament champion in extemporaneous speaking and impromptu speaking as well as third place in after dinner speaking. He is now qualified for the American Forensics National Individual Events Tournament in impromptu, extemporaneous and after dinner speaking.