Texas Speech celebrates fifth consecutive national championship
Texas Speech recently celebrated their fifth straight win at the American Forensic Association National Speech Tournament (AFA NST) Team Sweepstakes. This is the team’s eighth win over the last 10 years. The accomplishment marks Texas Speech’s 12th overall sweepstakes win, making them the second most successful program in AFA NST history since its creation in 1978.
“This win marks the first time in the program's long and successful history of five national championships in a row,” said Ryan Tinlin, Texas Speech director and assistant professor of instruction in Moody College’s Department of Communication Studies. “It reflects not just on the hard work of this year's team, but also the legacy of the program and the support of our incredible Texas Speech alumni and Moody College. The competition this year was incredibly strong with Texas beating out 57 other colleges and universities with over 1000 total speech entries, to win 1st place.”
While the entire team celebrated overall wins, individual students also walked away with awards. Senior neuroscience major and one of the team’s captains, Ishika Bhasin, won the Impromptu Speaking event. Junior, Taylor Whitley, won the Communication Analysis event. With this win, Whitley became the 100th individual national champion in Texas Speech history. Bhasin was also recognized as the ninth best overall speaker. Sophomore, Ella Bynane, was recognized as the eighth best overall speaker at the tournament.
“This fifth straight win is a signal of the hard work of several generations of Texas Speech team members and coaches!” Bhasin said. “The field was tougher than I anticipated it would be at the beginning of the season. It was a super rewarding challenge to see the team go up against so many amazing speeches across the circuit. I’m proud of the team’s willingness to collaborate and push each other to maximize the potential of everyone’s speeches. When we work together to create these amazing pieces of art, we all make each other stronger. This win is a direct reflection of that.”
Team captain and junior communication studies major, Alek Zabel Araguz, says that this win is monumental for the team.
“Winning for a fifth year in a row excites me for the future of Texas Speech,” Araguz said. “With 57 schools and over 1000 entries, we competed against some strong and diversified competition. I am proud of all the hard work that every team member put in this year. We would not have been able to win as a team without our collective hard work!”
In addition to the team’s success at the American Forensics Association competition, they also travelled to Nashville, Tennessee to compete at the National Forensics Association (NFA). This tournament featured 60 schools and over 1500 total entries from across the country.
The University of Texas has attended NFA many times over the last 30 years and have come close to winning many times, however this was the first time in the history of Texas Speech that the team pulled off a win in the overall Team Sweepstakes. These two wins solidify Texas Speech as the best team in the country winning both the AFA and NFA national tournaments.
“This is quite the accomplishment considering the incredible teams we have had over our program's history,” Tinlin said. “We had eight different students make final rounds with a total of 13 different speeches. Senior Team Captain Ishika Bhasin was named the 9th overall speaker, and sophomore Ella Bynane was named the 7th overall speaker. Freshman Ryan Mustafa won Informative Speaking.”
Tinlin says that two students, Ella Bynane and senior David Cervantes are also representing the Texas at the Interstate Oratory national tournament this spring. Tinlin continued by saying that each student worked very hard this season and that he’s incredibly proud of their efforts.
“The win means a lot to me since this is my first year as the director of the program and as a proud alum of the Communication Studies graduate program,” Tinlin said. “I am extremely proud of every member of the team and the discipline and grit they showed over the course of the season to keep our winning streak alive.”
The team was recognized with a Tower Lighting on April 28, honoring students who have won significant awards, honors and championships during the past year.
