CANYON, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) — West Texas A&M University announced that its forensic team won multiple awards at the Hill Country Swing.

According to the WTAMU press release, the team participated in two tournaments over a span of two days in San Marcos, placing third overall in the first tournament and placing second overall in the second tournament.

Winners in the first tournament on Sept. 23 include:

• Isaac Doty, a senior sociology major from Lubbock, placed third in communication analysis.
• Alejandro Mata, a senior political science major from Hereford, placed third in persuasion with a speech based on his McNair Scholar research on code-switching in forensics,
• Abigail Stilwell, a senior psychology major from Henrietta, placed fifth in persuasion.
• Willa Brackin, a freshman digital communication and media major from Thicket, placed fifth in program oral interpretation.

“The team is off to a great start this season,” said Dr. Kelsey Abele, director of the forensics team and assistant professor of communication studies. “The first tournament is always an adventure because we’re so early in the process of learning what makes a speech tick and looking forward to revisions for the next trip.”

Winners in the second tournament on Sept. 24 include:

• Isaac Doty won communication analysis and placed fifth in extemporaneous speaking. Doty also earned fifth place in informative speaking.
• Alejandro Mata and Abigail Stilwell placed first and second in persuasion.
• Willa Brackin took sixth in the program oral interpretation.
• Stilwell and Mata placed third and fourth, in prose.
• Ellie Lollar-Scott, a freshman theatre performance major from Amarillo, also competed both days in informative speaking and prose.

Officials said the WT forensic team plans to hold two on-campus events including a special forensics team reunion during WT’s Homecoming on Oct. 14 and the annual Guy P. Yates high school tournament from Oct. 20 to 2