Speech and Debate Team Excels at Nationals

Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly referred to the Speech and Debate Team as a club.

For the members of the Webster University Speech and Debate Team, their season built toward one defining moment.

The club brought home 27 awards, including a national championship win in oral history and a 10th place finish in the nation. The finish continues a long-standing tradition of success, with Webster typically placing between the top five and top 15 programs in most years and earning its 34th national championship overall.

On March 18 to 22, 2026 the Speech and Debate team competed at the Pi Kappa Delta National Tournament against more than 60 schools across the country.

“If you think of it in terms of baseball … the National Tournament is our World Series,” said club director Gina Jensen.

What makes these accomplishments stand out even more is the size of the team. While larger programs, like Louisiana State University and Boise State, arrived with “busloads” of competitors, Webster competed with just 13 students and still finished alongside some of the biggest programs in the country.

“It’s huge,” Jensen said. “For us to go as a small school and compete head to head and beat them … it means a lot to us.”

At the National Tournament, students competed in a wide range of events, from prepared speeches to live debates and performance-based interpretations. This year, Webster students entered multiple events across debate and individual speaking categories, with many events featuring fields of 60 to more than 100 competitors.

In addition to the club’s decorated finish, Webster earned several top placements, including a third place finish in After Dinner Speaking and fifth and sixth place finishes in Discussion, showing depth across both debate and individual events.

In debate events, students tackled fast-changing topics tied to current events and public policy. Competitors were given a topic shortly before a round and had to prepare arguments on the spot — sometimes defending positions they didn’t personally agree with.

Topics ranged from issues like Supreme Court term limits to broader questions about maintaining a democratic republic in modern America. The format challenges students to think critically, adapt quickly and understand multiple perspectives.

The club’s success at the National Tournament is the culmination of months of practice. Behind the scenes, the team’s success comes from months of practice and preparation.

“It’s really a yearlong process,” Jensen said. “Writing, rewriting, cutting, recutting – just getting ready.”

Throughout the school year, students continuously revise their performances by rewriting speeches, adjusting delivery and strengthening arguments based on competition results.

“We practice four hours a week,” Jensen said. “We have retreat weekends … and right before nationals, we spent Friday to Sunday just practicing all day.”

At their intensive training weekend, the team spent long hours rehearsing, refining arguments and receiving feedback from coaches and alumni.

That preparation showed in the results. In addition to their national championship in Oral History and strong sweepstakes finish, Webster earned two All-American honors, awarded to Maral Mahdinia and Madi Teska, along with a Rising Star Award for Chesper Tunga — recognizing first- and second-year competitors with exceptional promise.

Teska delivered a standout individual performance, placing third in After Dinner Speaking, earning a showcase selection and receiving additional “excellent” ratings across multiple events, including extemporaneous speaking, impromptu speaking and commentary. Her After Dinner Speaking piece focused on parasocial relationships with artificial intelligence, blending humor with a cautionary message about emotional dependence on AI.

“She really makes you laugh and kind of almost makes you want to cry,” Jensen said. “That was the beauty of her speech.”

Mahdinia earned strong results in discussion, interviewing and extemporaneous commentary, while also qualifying for the Interstate Oratorical Contest — a highly selective national competition that invites only two students per state.

Other contributors included Eleanor Clark, Rachel Hooper, Evana Vrhovac and Adi Sharma, who helped Webster secure results across debate and individual events, including multiple “excellent” ratings and additional placements in novice and open categories.

In debate, newcomer Nadia Calloway made a strong impression by placing fourth in the nation as a novice speaker, adding to the team’s standings across divisions.

In addition to these individual honors, Webster’s overall strength was reflected in consistent scoring across events, with contributions reaching nearly every division of competition.

When the final results were announced at the tournament’s closing banquet, Jensen said the moment was both exciting and emotional.

“I was very, very thrilled,” she said. “I was just so proud of the team.”

Beyond trophies and rankings, Jensen emphasized what the achievement represents for the university as a whole.

The club includes students from a wide range of majors across campus, all coming together to represent Webster on a national stage.

“I hope people remember how hard our students work,” she said. “This is a group of Webster students from all across the university representing us in a truly national competition.”

For a small team competing against some of the largest programs in the country, the Webster Speech and Debate Club proved it can defy expectations.