By Gerrit Goodwin/campus news editor

The NE Campus forensics team won several individual honors during a recent tournament against 11 other colleges.

NE hosted the Jan. 22-24 tournament that included Texas Christian University, Texas A&M, the University of Texas at Austin and Texas State University.

Montana Parish placed second in open division international public debate and was also ranked as the second-place speaker during the tournament.

Kristen Conrad placed fifth for speaker, and Shane Brewer ranked second in the Lincoln-Douglas debate.

Cecilia Silva, who placed second in programmed oral interpretation of literature, said the tournament had plenty of strong speakers from UT, TCU and other universities and was proud of where she placed.

“In programmed oral interpretation, you have to create your argument from several different forms of literature,” she said. “You only have 10 minutes to do it, so it can be challenging.”

Silva said she has been debating since middle school and feels confident about an upcoming tournament in Oklahoma, partly because she placed second in a tournament there earlier this year.

“I love the creativity and argumentation that comes with debate,” she said. “Eventually, I want to be a speech and debate coach.”

NE freshman Miranda Chavarria participated in her first intercollegiate tournament and placed second in novice international public debate.

“It was my first tournament, and it was nerve-wracking. The first week of preparing for the tournament, I did not feel ready,” she said. “I only had two days of practice for the tournament, but my team helped me get over my anxiety. Afterward, I was pretty confident that I could do well. And when it was my turn to debate, it clicked for me.”

Chavarria said she had always had an interest in debate, but because of her involvement in band, she didn’t have time. That was until she began attending TCC and became determined to get over her fear of public speaking. She credits her success in the tournament to her debate coach Daniel Schabot, who made her feel comfortable in the debate team.

“I know this tournament was smaller than the one in Oklahoma, but I am eager to see how I do in a bigger setting with more competition,” she said.