The reigning national champion Simpson College Speech and Debate team took home a first place finish in their season opening competition last week, scoring 122 points to win the Derryberry Season Opener. The Storm scored 122 points, 41 more than the second place team, and took first in Individual Sweepstakes and second in the Debate Sweepstakes.

Ryan Corcoran and Anja Waugh led the way for Simpson, which produced many outstanding individual performances. Waugh was the tournament champion in quadrathon, while Corcoran walked away with tournament champion honors in extemporaneous speaking, prose interpretation, duo interpretation with teammate Andrew Samountry, and the Bright Young Scholar Award.