Pokes finally get a chance to breathe after a quick start to the year

It's a new year for the McNeese State University speech and debate team!  That means some new faces and a lot of new events.  The Pokes wasted no team in the Fall of 2016, getting off to a quick start with tournaments on three consecutive weekends.

The team began on the weekend of Septermber 17-18 with the Hill Country Swing on the campus of Texas State university in San Marcos, TX.  This year's tourney welcomed McNeese competitor Zach Monroe back to competition, and saw the forensics debut of McNeese's Ryan Tibbitts.

The following weekend, the team traveled to Houston for the Rice University Classic.  Returning McNeese competitors included Ali Mason and Ana Correa.

The team ended the first leg of fall travel by heading east to George Mason University in Fairfax, VA for the Virginia is for Lovers swing.  Team president Crystal Leday returned to competition during this tournament, which took place on October 1-2.

McNeese received its first trophies of the year in Virginia.  The Saturday portion of the tournament saw Ali Mason take 6th and Crystal Leday take 5th in Program Oral Interpretation (POI).  During the Sunday half, the two placed 3rd and 2nd respectively.  Mason added a 7th place finish in Communication Analysis.  As a team, McNeese placed 5th for combined scores over the course of both days' tournaments.

After fall break, the team will return to competition with the For the Sake of Argument Swing on the campus of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, TX.