°®¶¹´«Ã½ÊÓƵ

03/29/2021 1:00 AM

The °®¶¹´«Ã½ÊÓƵ Speech Team (BUST) has won the 2021 National Speech Championship (NSC), in its first time participating in the tournament. This national tournament allows teams to enter a maximum of 22 entries with only two students per event. BUST had a very strong showing with 12 of its entries making it into the final rounds, along with two national champions. °®¶¹´«Ã½ÊÓƵ took 1st place overall, beating George Mason University by six points.

Individual results can be found below. °®¶¹´«Ã½ÊÓƵ’s championship comes weeks after taking home the Illinois State Championship. The speech team will finish its season with the American Forensics Association (NFA) National Speech Tournament (April 1-5) and the National Forensics Association (AFA) Tournament (April 16-19). In 2019, °®¶¹´«Ã½ÊÓƵ was the NFA National Champion and the AFA Runner-Up.

• Haleemah Na’Allah ‘21 – Persuasive Speaking: 2nd; After Dinner Speaking: CHAMPION.
• David Daye ‘23 – After Dinner Speaking: 2nd; Persuasive Speaking: 3rd; Communication Analysis: CHAMPION.
• Joshua Beckles ‘21 – Duo Performance (w/ Kory Turner): 5th; Poetry Performance: 3rd; Prose Performance: 3rd.
• Laura Belec ‘21 – Impromptu Speaking: 5th; Extemporaneous Speaking: 4th.
• Amelia Burns ‘21 – Informative Speaking: Semi-finalist; Dramatic Performance: 6th.
• Raechel Zoellick ‘23 – Program Performance: 2nd.
• Kory Turner ‘21 – Duo Interpretation (w/ Joshua Beckles): 5th.
• Lily Pieper ‘21 – Semi-finalist in Impromptu Speaking, Extemporaneous Speaking, Poetry Performance and Dramatic Performance.
• Kaity Johnson ‘23 – Duo Interpretation (w/ Bri Leys): Semi-finalist.
• Bri Leys ‘22 – Duo Interpretation (w/ Kaity Johnson): Semi-finalist.
• Shaun Cesario ‘21 – Quarterfinalist in Communication Analysis and Informative Speaking.
• Joseph Cyrus ‘24 – Program Performance: Quarterfinalist.