This weekend at the Pflugerville TFA Swing tournament, Bowie debate students competed for top positions in various speech and debate competitions. 

Sophomore Erin Everette, junior Alyssa Shumaker, junior Connor Snow, and other members from the speech and debate team participated in the tournament. 

“The Pflugerville tournament is basically two competitions, Pflugerville and Hendrickson, combined in one,” Everette said. “It’s a speech and debate competition and has events for both.”

This competition is not a typical debate event, but rather it focuses on specialties in speech and debate.

“This is not a debate event, but this is an oral interpretation event, a division of the speech and debate team,” Shumaker said. 

The Oral interpretation events at the tournament test various interpretation skills.  

“In all Oral interpretation events, a student or pair of students perform a work of literature, such as a book, movie or musical with a purpose behind it,” Snow said. “While duo interpretation is a partner event where you and your partner have to perform a piece without making eye contact or touching.”

Below are the results for the Pflugerville TFA Swing tournament 2019:

1st place

Jaden Davis and Connor Snow in Duo Interpretation- Pflugerville

Erin Everette in Novice Oral Interpretation- Hendrickson

Erin Everette in Novice Oral Interpretation- Pflugerville

2nd place

Jaden Davis and Alyssa Shumaker in Duet Acting- Pflugerville

Connor Snow in Humorous Interpretation- Pflugerville

3rd place

Jaden Davis and Connor Snow in Duo Interpretation- Hendrickson

Jaden Davis and Alyssa Shumaker in Duet Acting- Hendrickson

Ashlyn Dahl in Congressional Debate- Hendrickson

Ashlyn Dahl in Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking- Pflugerville

Daniel Bamdad in Novice Oral Interpretation- Hendrickson

4th place

Kaia Pierce and Sydney Reinhart in Duet Acting- Hendrickson

Kaia Pierce and Sydney Reinhart in Duet Acting- Pflugerville

Ashlyn Dahl in Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking- Hendrickson

Alex Paulson in Congressional Debate- Hendrickson

Elliot Crunk in Informative Speaking- Hendrickson

Daniel Bamdad in Novice Oral Interpretation- Pflugerville 

 5th place

David Findley in Prose Interpretation- Hendrickson

Jaden Davis in Dramatic Interpretation- Pflugerville

David Findley in Poetry Interpretation- Hendrickson

6th place

Elliot Crunk in Informative Speaking-Pflugerville

David Findley in Prose Interpretation- Pflugerville

Nadia Petru in Novice Oral Interpretation- Pflugerville

 7th place

Kaelie Douglass in Novice Oral Interpretation- Hendrickson

 Quarterfinalists (top 8)

Conner Williams and Katie Golson Public Forum Debate-Pflugerville

Conner Williams and Katie Golson Public Forum Debate-Hendrickson 

The tournament in Pflugerville was the start of the school year for the speech and debate team. 

“These tournaments occur nearly every Saturday throughout the fall semester,” Shumaker said.

Results for Leander 2019 TFA State Qualifying Tournament:

New State Qualifiers:

Jaden Davis and Alyssa Shumaker in Duet Acting

Jaden Davis and Connor Snow in Duo Interpretation

1st place

Jaden Davis and Alyssa Shumaker in Duet Acting

Jaden Davis and Connor Snow in Duo Interpretation

Jaden Davis in Dramatic Interpretation

Zoe Bouck in Humorous Interpretation

Erin Everette in Varsity Prose Interpretation

3rd place

Riley McCue in Humorous Interpretation

4th place

Kaia Pierce in Dramatic Interpretation

Tristan Rath in Humorous Interpretation

David Findley in Varsity Prose Interpretation

David Findley in Varsity Poetry Interpretation

5th place

Alyssa Shumaker in Dramatic Interpretation

6th place

Connor Snow

Nadia Petru in Varsity Prose Interpretation

Finalist in Congressional Debate

Aiden Barboza

“The tournament was very successful for us,” sophomore Erin Everette said.