L&C wins trio of international championships in the eye of Greece

Milton, in Paradise Regained, called the Greek city of Athens the “mother of arts and eloquence”. The Lewis & Clark River Otters showed how eloquence can indeed lead to a form of paradise.

Six students from Lewis & Clark’s speech and debate team traveled to one of the birthplaces of classical rhetoric for the 36th annual IFA tournament. While they were among the smaller contingents of the thirty two colleges and universities that attended the event, they were among the strongest as well, earning three international championships at the tournament.

In individual speaking events, Riley McGinley (CAS ’27) was the international champion in extemporaneous speaking, having 30 minutes to create a speech from the point of view of the Greek Prime Minister about how to respond to the current conflict in Iran. Sam Rudderow (CAS ’26) was awarded international champion honors in Communication Analysis for her prepared speech on occult horror fiction and its uses in resistance toward authoritarianism. Their championships were among six L&C events to reach elimination rounds. Katie Jo Furrer (CAS ’26) reached two final rounds, placing fourth in After Dinner Speaking and sixth in Communication Analysis, while Rudderow qualified for two additional elimination rounds, finishing as a semifinalist in both Extemporaneous Speaking and After Dinner Speaking.

In debate, the results were equally as impressive. Jayden Steinberg (CAS ’27) was named the champion speaker in IPDA, with McGinley finishing in 5th and Kiana Hall (CAS ’26) in 9th place. All four L&C IPDA debaters advanced to elimination rounds. Steinberg finished as the runner-up, while Rudderow was a quarterfinalist, and McGinley and Hall placed as octofinalists.

As a school, the River Otters placed fourth, despite an entry size smaller than many of the schools at the tournament. Rudderow was the fifth placed individual speaker across all events.

The IFA tournament continues the strong momentum of the speech and debate squad during the spring semester. L&C students have won tournament championships in both LD debate and BP debate during the spring, numerous tournament championships in individual events, and were named a gold medalist program at the 2026 Northwest Forensics Conference awards ceremony in February, continuing a streak of ten successive gold medals in non-pandemic years.

While the IFA tournament was an undoubted success, the team now turns its attention to a number of national tournaments in the coming weeks, including the National Speech Tournament which will be hosted in Portland April 3-6, with competition on the L&C campus on the 4th and 5th. Those wishing to support the team as it prepares for these tournaments are invited to the “Night Before Nationals” exhibition on March 16 at 6:00 pm in the Fowler Student Center’s Council Chamber, as the international champions as well as many other team members will perform their events.