West Texas A&M’s speech and debate team placed third in the Sunday Sweepstakes and first in the overall combined weekend sweeps in its first virtual speech tournament hosted by Kansas Wesleyan University. The synchronous tournament featured universities and judges from across the country.

Connie McKee, the WTAMU speech and debate coach, said it was interesting to see the different styles from the schools from other regions and how pleased she was with the students' performance.

“The students did a great job representing WT,” McKee said. “I am super proud of the kids.”

On the first day of the tournament, Canyon native Caitlin Bartz placed second in Prose Interpretation and second in Dramatic Interpretation; Tearanee Lockhart, from Amarillo, placed third in Programmed Oral Interpretation, third in Dramatic Interpretation and fourth in Impromptu Speaking; Kaitlyn Cribbs, from Borden County, placed fifth in Informative Speaking; and Adrian Trevino, from Andrews, placed seventh in Extemporaneous Speaking.

On the second day of the tournament, Bartz placed third in Prose Interpretation and third place Dramatic Interpretation; Lockhart placed fourth in Programmed Oral Interpretation, fourth Dramatic Interpretation and third in Impromptu Speaking; and Cribbs placed fourth in Informative Speaking.

-West Texas A&M University