Talkin’ Broncos win national championship for 2025-2026

The Boise State Speech and Debate team are the 2025-2026 Pi Kappa Delta national champions in speech and debate. Over Spring Break, the Talkin' Broncos competed against over four hundred students from fifty-eight schools to earn their seventh national championship at the PKD National Championship held at Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri. The win marks the seventh national championship title for the Talkin' Broncos since winning their first in 2005.

"Winning this tournament takes an extraordinary amount of preparation, adaptability, true teamwork and highest craft from every competitor," said Manda Hicks, director of the speech and debate program. "The students have been working all year to bring their best to the national stage in March, and their efforts received the ultimate award. This was not an accident or surprise; it was hard won - they did everything they could to prepare for this competition."

Three Talkin' Broncos were named Pi Kappa Delta All Americans; Allie Hampton (senior, Meridian), Jaxon Holmes (junior, Garden City), and Chloe Sellers (senior, Twin Falls), were three of only ten students awarded the prestigious honor. Other top honors included Tournament Pentathlon.

Across over 2,000 speech and debate entries, Boise State had four of the top ten Tournament Pentathlon award winners: Ari Ashby (sophomore, Idaho Falls), who took second-place overall; Hampton and Holmes, who took fourth and fifth-place, respectively; and Adam Pendergrass (junior, Nampa), who took seventh-place.

In Public Forum Debate, Hampton and Pendergrass finished as semi-finalists, with Pendergrass receiving the fifth-place speaker award. Ashby and Jesse Madison (sophomore, Meridian) finished as quarter-finalists, with Ashby receiving the first-place speaker award and Madison winning the eighth-place speaker award.

In Team Public Debate, Sam Kleman (junior, Boise) and Colby Bond (sophomore, Meridian), finished as semi-finalists. Holmes and Gibson finished as quarter-finalists, with Holmes receiving the first-place speaker award.

In Open Public Debate, Hampton received the first-place speaker award and finished as a quarter-finalist. Bridget Gibson (junior, Boise) finished as an octo-finalist. Kiryn Willett (senior, Boise) received the seventh-place speaker award and Anthony Thomas (senior, Meridian) received the ninth-place speaker award.

In Junior Public Debate, Cadence Marang (junior, Nampa) received the tenth-place speaker award. In Novice Public Debate, Ben Hobbs (freshman, Caldwell) finished as a quarter-finalist.

In Individual Events, Ashby led the team with the national championship win in informative speaking, third-place in extemporaneous commentary, fourth-place in both broadcast journalism and to honor, and excellent awards in both persuasive speaking and poetry interpretation. Hampton took first-place in persuasive speaking, fifth-place in podcasting, and received excellent awards in prose interpretation, extemporaneous speaking, broadcast journalism, student scholarship, and informative speaking. Jaxon Holmes was the national champion in broadcast journalism and took sixth-place in duo interpretation and seventh-place in impromptu speaking. Madison took first-place in extemporaneous speaking, fifth-place in to honor, and received an excellent award in broadcast journalism.

Aleigh Holmes (freshman, Garden City) took second-place in discussion, third-place in congress, fourth-place in persuasive speaking, and received excellent awards in both prose interpretation and impromptu speaking. Willett took second-place in student scholarship and received an excellent in extemporaneous speaking. Pendergrass took fourth-place in communication analysis, fifth-place in persuasive speaking, sixth-place in both duo interpretation and interviewing, tenth-place in impromptu speaking, and received an excellent in extemporaneous commentary.

Seddi Momenpour (freshman, Nampa) took fifth place in congress and received excellent awards in both extemporaneous commentary and after dinner speaking. Thomas took sixth-place in broadcast journalism, received a superior award in extemporaneous speaking, and received excellent awards in impromptu speaking, extemporaneous commentary, and persuasive speaking.

Ivan Markevych (junior, Kremenchuck, Poltava region, Ukraine) took sixth-place in impromptu speaking and received excellent awards in prose interpretation, dramatic interpretation, and extemporaneous speaking. Bond took sixth-place in to honor, and received excellent awards in both after dinner speaking and interviewing. Marang took sixth-place in podcasting and received excellent awards in impromptu speaking, persuasive speaking, and extemporaneous speaking. Gibson took sixth-place in podcasting and received excellent awards in both extemporaneous commentary and communication analysis. Kleman received a superior award in impromptu speaking and excellent awards in both broadcast journalism and extemporaneous commentary. Sellers received excellent awards in both extemporaneous commentary and extemporaneous speaking. Hobbs received an excellent award in extemporaneous speaking.

The Talkin' Broncos finish the 2025-2026 season at the International Public Debate Association Championship in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The Talkin' Broncos are supported in part through the generosity of the Jeker Family Trust. For more information about the Talkin' Broncos, contact Manda Hicks, director of forensics at Boise State at [email protected].

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