Photo: (L to R): Taryn Thurman, Reid Pinckard, Luke Muskrat, Caroline Rose, Connelly Cowan, Kylie Hedge

Contact: Kelly Cowan

MPHS Debate team members qualify for TFA State

The Mount Pleasant High School Speech and Debate team competed in the Texas Forensics Association (TFA) Individual Qualifying Tournament at Athens High School on Friday, Nov 22. Two team members earned their state qualifications bringing the team total to four. 

Senior Caroline Rose won the tournament championship in Lincoln Douglas (LD) debate outlasting a field of thirty competitors, including several from large 6A programs. The win earned her the final points needed to qualify for the state tournament. She is the first MPHS team member in school history to be eligible for TFA State in LD. It will be her first trip to the TFA state tournament.

Sophomore Connelly Cowan won the tournament championship in Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking (FX), taking first place out of a field of 54 competitors, also including several from large 6A programs. The win secured her qualification for the TFA state tournament. She is the first MPHS team member in school history to qualify for TFA State in Extemp. It will be her second trip to the TFA state tournament after an appearance last year in CX.

Reid Pinckard, a junior, was a semifinalist in the Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking and a quarterfinalist in the Lincoln Douglas debate at Athens. In Cross-Examination debate (CX), the team of Cowan and Taryn Thurman placed 2nd, and the team of Taylor Hubbs and Luke Muskrat were semifinalists. 

The two qualifications for the state bring the total for the MPHS team to four: Rose in LD, Cowan in FX, and the team of Cowan and Thurman in CX. The TFA State Tournament will take place on March 5-7, 2020, in El Paso. Cody Morris and assistant Lea-Holli Hensley head the MPHS Speech and Debate.