HELENA, MT — The newest generation of Carroll College Talking Saints started their careers by winning eight awards including first in novice BP debate at the Teaching Tournament, hosted online on September 19-20, 2026, by Carroll College. Colleges from six states competed, with Northwest states joined by Florida, Missouri and Colorado.
First-year debaters Jude Sherman of Helena and Emilio Rodriguez-Holloway of Las Vegas won novice, with Alyssa Lavery of Hingham, Montana, and Corbin Han of Kennewick, Washington, placing third. Chloe Salusso of Butte and Maisy Orellana of Woodland Park, Colorado, reached the semifinals.
The novice Saints also won four of the top six speaker awards.
In the open division, the Carroll team of senior Jenna Hammond of Libby and Leah Melvin of Kimberly, Idaho, finished second, with Seattle University finishing first.
“It was so special getting to debate with Leah and getting back in the game,” said Hammond. “I guess breaking to finals proved we weren’t too rusty after all. We were surprised at our performance.”
The Carroll Teaching Tournament, whose mission is to put “education before competition and teaching before trophies,” held workshops on Saturday morning – a beginner’s workshop run by Carroll coach Brent Northup, and an advanced workshop hosted by the Irish National champions, Rob Fitzpatrick and Adrianne Ward. The Irish were featured in an exhibition debate at Carroll College in March 2025.
The tournament concluded with a tournament Saturday afternoon and Sunday.
The new Talking Saints, almost all with no prior debate experience, admitted to a few butterflies as they moved from practice to competition.
“I was holding on for dear life,” said Han.
But, at battle’s end, the new Talking Saints were somewhere between relieved and ecstatic.
“It was a bit of everything: fun, stressful, exciting and full of moments of learning,” said Orellana. “Overall an awesome opening tournament for the team. I’m excited to see how we continue to grow this season!”
“I'm proud of how good all the teams did,” said Rodriguez-Holloway. “We definitely would have died of starvation if it wasn't for the Lily (Vickers) food runs. She was our GOAT, for sure. There were great rounds, good competition, great topics. It was a blast.”
After every tournament the Talking Saints present a stuffed animal to a team member whose compassion held everyone together during stressful competition. Senior Jenna Hammond, fittingly a future nurse, cuddled her stuffed bear, which was delivered with lots of hugs from the frosh, who crowned her “team mom.”
“It was so remarkable seeing the growth of our freshmen over the weekend and seeing their hard work truly pay off,” said Hammond. “We have such a strong group that’s so eager to learn and thrive. The weekend was full of excitement, surprises and new experiences. I wouldn’t have wanted it to go any other way!”
