Marian University Speech and Debate

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This past week, the Marian University Speech & Debate Team placed 9th overall and 5th in Individual Events at the Pi Kappa Delta National Tournament. The team traveled to Glendale Community College in Phoenix, Arizona and competed against 69 other schools. This is the 6th consecutive year we’ve placed in the top 10 nationally. To highlight, we have a National Champion, an All-American, and a nationally-recognized Rising Star. Individual Awards this year can be read as follows:

Superior -placed in the top 10% in their speaking event
Excellence - placed in the top 20% in their speaking event
Showcase participant - student was selected by the tournament to do an exemplar performance of their individual speaking event

Bethanie Majewski 24’ - National Champion in Student Scholarship, 3rd place in the nation in Persuasive Speaking, & Superior in Interviewing

Charles Russell III 25’ - National Runner-Up in Poetry Interpretation, 2024 Rising Star, & Excellence in Interviewing

MariAngel Morales-Aparicio 24’ - 2024 All-American, Excellence in Dramatic Interpretation, & Excellence in Reader’s Theatre

Lydia Shock 24’ - Superior in Discussion & Showcase Participant, Excellence in Duo Interpretation w Jada Radford & Excellence in Persuasion

Natalie Rund 24’ - Superior in Prose Interpretation & Showcase Participant, Excellence in Dramatic Interpretation, Excellence in Reader’s Theatre

Alexandra Rapp 24’ - 3rd in the Nation in Broadcast Journalism, National Runner-Up in Programmed Oral Interpretation, & Excellence in Reader’s Theatre

Jada Radford 26’ -Excellence in Discussion & Showcase Participant, Excellence in Duo Interpretation with Lydia Shock & Excellence in Dramatic Interpretation

Brooke Paganelli 25’ - Excellence In Impromptu Speaking & Excellence in Reader’s Theatre

POV: you ask to see our 2024 PKD pics! Results coming soon!

Congratulations to student Charles Russell III for winning the PKD rising star award ⭐️! A rising star is someone within their first two years of competition, a record of competitive success and service outside of forensics. Congrats Charles!

We are officially on Day Two of Nationals! The first day we had some fun with practicing and a fun park and now we are competing after a year of hard work!

We are so excited for where our team will be heading for our national tournament this week! Can’t wait to see everyone in Arizona!

This past weekend, the Marian University Speech & Debate team earned 3rd place at the Indiana Forensics Association’s State tournament. Three biology majors won individual championships with everyone on the team advancing into a final round. Next, we go to our National Tournament, the 2024 Pi Kappa Delta Convention in Glendale, AZ.

Individual results below:

Senior Bethanie Majewski - CHAMPION: Persuasive Speaking

Sophomore Jada Radford - CHAMPION: Novice Dramatic Interpretation, 2nd place: Improv Pairs w Alex Rapp & 2nd Place: Novice Programmed Oral Interpretation

First-Year Aubrie Smith - CHAMPION: Novice Poetry Interpretation, 2nd place: Novice Informative Speaking & 2nd Place: Novice Prose Interpretation

Senior Alex Rapp - 2nd place: Improv Pairs w Jada Radford, 3rd place: Duo Interpretation w Brooke Paganelli, 3rd place: Prose Interpretation, 4th place: Programmed Oral Interpretation, & 6th place: Poetry Interpretation

Junior Charles Russell III - 2nd place: Poetry Interpretation & 4th place: Impromptu Speaking

Sophomore Miguel Spalding-Price - 2nd place: Pecha Kucha, 5th place: Extemporaneous Speaking, & 7th place: Informative Speaking

Sophomore Brooke Paganelli - 3rd place: Duo Interpretation w Alex Rapp, 4th place: After Dinner Speaking, & 5th Place: Programmed Oral Interpretation

Senior Mariangel Morales-Aparicio - 4th place: Informative Speaking & 5th place: Poetry Interpretation

Senior Natalie Rund - 6th place: Dramatic Interpretation & 6th place: Informative Speaking

Senior Lydia Shock - 4th place: Persuasive speaking

We are so excited to welcome other Indiana Collegiate Forensics teams to our campus this weekend for the state competition!

This past weekend, the Marian University Speech & Debate team earned 6th place at the Gorlok Gala hosted by Webster University in St. Louis. Thirty-one other schools competed against Marian, and this tournament serves as a “preview” of our national competition. The team walked away with each person on our team advancing into a final round, earning multiple awards. Next, we host the State tournament, on-campus February 17th.

Individual results below:

Senior Alex Rapp - Champion: Programmed Oral Interpretation, 3rd place: Media Broadcasting 4th place: Improv Pairs w Jada Radford, 5th place: Prose Interpretation, 5th place: Duo Interpretation w Brooke Paganelli, 4th place Overall tournament speaker

Senior Mariangel Morales-Aparicio - 2nd place: Interviewing, 4th place: Informative Speaking, Excellence in Media Broadcasting

Sophomore Miguel Spalding-Price - 2nd place: Informative Speaking & Semifinalist: Impromptu Speaking

Senior Natalie Rund - 3rd place: Dramatic Interpretation & 6th place: Informative Speaking

Junior Bethanie Majewski - 2nd place: Persuasive Speaking & Excellence in Impromptu Speaking

Sophomore Jada Radford - 4th place: Improv Pairs w Alex Rapp & 4th place: Dramatic
Interpretation

Junior Charles Russell III - 4th place: Prose Interpretation & 4th place: Poetry Interpretation

Senior Lydia Shock - 3rd place: Persuasive speaking

Sophomore Brooke Paganelli - 4th place: Duo Interpretation w Alex Rapp

This past weekend, the Marian University Speech & Debate team won 2nd place at the Frank-ly Speaking tournament hosted by the College of DuPage Eighteen other schools competed against Marian. The team walked away with 3 individual championships & multiple final round participants.

Individual results below:

Senior Lydia Shock - CHAMPION, Persuasive Speaking & CHAMPION, Duo Interpretation with Jada Radford

Sophomore Brooke Paganelli - CHAMPION, After Dinner Speaking, 3rd place Duo Interpretation w Alex Rapp

Sophomore Jada Radford - CHAMPION, Duo Interpretation with Lydia Shock

Senior Alex Rapp - 2nd place: Programmed Oral Interpretation, 3rd place Duo Interpretation w Brooke Paganelli

Sophomore Miguel Spalding-Price - 6th place, Extemporaneous Speaking & 6th place, Informative Speaking

Junior Mariangel Morales-Aparicio - 4th place: Informative Speaking, 7th place, Duo Interpretation w Natalie Rund, 5th Individual Sweepstakes

Junior Natalie Rund - 7th place: Duo Interpretation w Lydia Shock, 7th place: Informative Speaking

Sophomore Bethanie Majewski - 6th place: Persuasive Speaking

On December 2nd, the Marian Speech team competed at the .speech Forensics 500 Audrey Cunningham Tournament. We walked away with several awards and are excited to see how we do next semester when we return!
Individual results below:

Sophomore Jada Radford- 3rd place in Dramatic

Junior Brooke Paganelli- 4th in After Dinner Speaking

Senior Alex Rapp- 4th in Program Oral Interpretation

Senior Natalie Rund- 5th in Dramatic Interpretation

This thanksgiving we are thankful for an amazing team and opportunity to compete! The MU Speech and Debate team is wishing you and your families well this holiday!

On Saturday Nov. 18th, the Marian University Speech & Debate team took 5th place at the Falcon Classic Tournament hosted by Bowling Green State University . Marian saw 17 other schools compete and the team also took home recognition as the Top Pi Kappa Delta School.

Individual results below:

Senior Alex Rapp - Champion, Broadcasting, 4th place Programmed Oral Interpretation, & 6th place, After Dinner Speaking

Senior Mariangel Morales-Aparicio - 3rd place, Quadrathon Speaker, 2nd place, Dramatic Interpretation, 2nd place in Broadcasting & 2nd in duo with Natalie Rund

Senior Natalie Rund - 2nd place Duo Interpretation with MariAngel Morales-Aparicio, 6th place, Dramatic Interpretation

Senior Nick Kantner - 4th place, Prose Interpretation

Junior Charles Russell III - 5th place, Prose Interpretation

First Year Mahelate Assefa - 5th place, Programmed Oral Interpretation

On Saturday Nov. 4th, the Marian University Speech & Debate team took 4th place at the Heart of It All Tournament hosted by Otterbein University. Marian saw 12 other schools compete and the team advanced to finals in every event they brought to the tournament. We had such a fun time and are so proud of our work!

Individual results below:

Senior Mariangel Morales-Aparicio - 3rd place, Dramatic Interpretation, 3rd in Poetry Interpretation & 3rd in duo with Natalie Rund

Senior Natalie Rund - 3rd place, Duo Interpretation with MariAngel Morales-Aparicio, 2nd place, Dramatic Interpretation, 3rd in duo with MariAngel Morales-Aparicio, 6th place, Prose Interpretation

Junior Charles Russell III - 4th place in Prose & 4th in Impromptu Speaking

Senior Alex Rapp - 4th place Programmed Oral Interpretation & 6th place, Broadcasting

Sophomore Brooke Paganelli-4th place After Dinner Speaking

We had an amazing time at Marshall this past weekend! On Saturday, Oct. 22nd, the Marian University Speech & Debate team earned 6th place out of 10 schools at the MU Memorial Tournament hosted by Marshall University.

Individual results below:

Junior Alex Rapp - 2nd place, Programmed Oral Interpretation

Senior Natalie Rund - 2nd place, Dramatic Interpretation & 4th place, Duo Interpretation w Mariangel Morales-Aparicio

Senior Mariangel Morales-Aparicio -  3rd place, Dramatic Interpretation & 4th place, Duo Interpretation w Natalie Rund

Sophomore Brooke Paganellii - 5th place, Impromptu Speaking

We are so proud of our team for our first tournament of the year! On Saturday, Oct. 14th & 15th the Marian University Speech & Debate team earned 5th place at Age of Aquarius tournament (14th) hosted by Ball State University!

Individual results below for the 14th:

Senior MariAngel Morales-Aparicio - 2nd place Duo interpretation & 6th place, Poetry interpretation

Senior Natalie Rund - 2nd place, Duo Interpretation & 4th place, Dramatic Interpretation

First-Year Aubrie Smith - Top Novice and 4th place, InformativeTj Speaking

Senior Lydia Shock - 3rd place, Duo Interpretation & 4th place, Prose Interpretation

Senior Alex Rapp - 3rd, Place Duo interpretation & 5th place, After Dinner Speaking

Junior Azriel Rose - 7th place in Programmed Oral Interpretation

Junior Nick Kantner - 5th place, informative speaking

Individual results below for the 15th:

Senior MariAngel Morales-Aparicio - 3rd place Duo interpretation & 5th place, Poetry interpretation

Senior Natalie Rund - 3rd place, Duo Interpretation & 6th place, Dramatic Interpretation

Senior Alex Rapp - 6th place, Programmed Oral Interpretation

Photo Credits (images 3-7)

We are off to a great start with speeches coming together! Looking forward to an amazing year of fun in community and communications!

Wow, you better scan it while you can! Or even just check the link in our bio…

Come visit some of our members and learn more about the team!

We could not be more proud of our two graduates from our team! Congrats to Timothy and Mika and we can't wait to see what incredible things you guys do with your incredible communication skills!

Happy Summer from the MU speech and debate team!!! We were happy to have a final banquet and get together for our team where we passed out some team awards and our usual silly awards! We can't wait to see what next year brings!

Come enjoy two performances from our award winning speech team tommorow! We will make you laugh and cry through our amazing performers!

We are so glad to represent this University and can't wait to do more great things in the future!

The Marian University Speech and Debate team continued excelling last month as the talented students ended their season 9th in the Nation out of 75 schools that competed in West Chester, Pennsylvania. The Pi Kappa Delta National Tournament competition means this is the sixth year in a row Marian has finished as a top 10 program overall, and a few students walked away with multiple National Championships.

Congratulations!

Read more about their accomplishments at http://ow.ly/PugQ50NIuYi

Are you an incoming freshman or a current student looking for some fun times next year? Are you a competitive individual looking to speak on real issues in the world? You want to wear a cool looking suit? Well this is the group for you!

We always appreciate the support of just cheering us on, but if you were looking for a group to donate to, consider giving to the speech and debate team! Help us get more people to hear our advocacy work!

https://www.marian.edu/_forms/give-to-marian

We are super excited to start work for next year!

This past weekend Marian University placed 9th at the Pi Kappa Delta National Speech and Debate Tournament in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Here are the results.

Junior Alex Rapp, Senior Timothy Hosford, Junior Mariangel Morales-Aparicio, and Senior Nate Rodenburg: National Champions in in Readers Theatre

Junior Mariangel Morales-Aparicio: National Champion in Spanish Language Platform Address, 3rd place in Spanish Language Impromptu Speaking

Senior Timothy Hosford: National Champion in Interviewing and National Quarterfinalist in Rhetorical Criticism

Junior Alex Rapp: 4th place in After Dinner Speaking and National Quarterfinalist in Dramatic Duo Interpretation with Junior Lydia Shock

First-year Brooke Paginelli, Junior Nick Kantner, Senior Jeff Martin, and Junior Natalie Rund: 4th place in Readers Theatre

Junior Natalie Rund: National Quarterfinalist in Dramatic Duo Interpretation with Shock, National Quarterfinalist in Persuasive Speaking, and National Semifinalist in Dramatic Interpretation

Junior Lydia Shock: Excellence Award (top 30%) in After Dinner Speaking, National Quarterfinalist in Dramatic Duo Interpretation with Junior Natalie Rund, and National Quarterfinalist in Dramatic Duo Interpretation with Rapp

First-year Miguel Spaulding-Price: National Octafinalist in Novice IPDA Debate

First-year Charles Russell III: National Quarterfinalist in Prose Interpretation

Junior Jeff Martin: Excellence Award (top 30%) in Impromptu Speaking

Senior Jules Frisbe: National Semifinalist in Programmed Oral Interpretation and National Semifinalist in Rhetorical Criticism

Marian University: 9th place among over 70 programs

We are having so much fun at Pi Kappa Delta and are happy to say that we had 11 events make it to quarter finals! But even more important, we have had a bunch of fun memories created!

A late night as we journey to nationals! See you soon Pi Kappa Delta!!!

Meet some of the members of our team before we go to Pennsylvania to compete at the Pi Kappa Delta national tournament next week! Sending good luck to all those competing!