Coaching Staff

Meet our awesome coaching staff!

Here you'll find biographical information for our staff and graduate assistant coaches. Reach out to one of our coaches if you have questions about anything!

Professor Katie Brunner

Director of Forensics

Katie is our fearless leader, serving as our Director of Forensics! Katie holds a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Forensics & Communication from Minnesota State University, Mankato, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication from the University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire. Katie is currently an Assistant Professor in the Communication Studies department.

Katie competed in collegiate speech at UW-Eau Claire, and coached the team at Minnesota State, Mankato during her graduate studies. She worked as Assistant Director of Forensics and Director of Individual Events at Simpson College in Indianola, IA from 2015-2017 before moving back to Mankato to rejoin the Mavericks in 2017. Katie served as the Assistant Director of our Forensics program from 2017-2018 before stepping into the Director role in 2018!

Brent Mitchell

Assistant Director of Forensics

Brent is our Assistant Director of Forensics. Brent holds a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Forensics & Communication from Minnesota State University, Mankato, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater from the University of Central Missouri. Brent is currently an Instructor in the Communication Studies department.

Brent joined us from the University of Central Missouri, where he competed with the speech and debate team for four years and coached for two. As a competitor, Brent experienced individual success in NFA and PKD while participating in outrounds for Impromptu, Prose, and Duo. His favorite team moment came when UCM won Individual Event Sweeps and Overall Sweeps at the 2016 MAFA State Tournament. Brent has coached numerous state champions in all interpretation and limited prep events while coaching national outround participants in POI, Prose, Impromptu, and Extemp.

Tennisha Sonsalla

Graduate Assistant Coach

Tennisha Sonsalla is one of our graduate assistant coaches. While coaching, Tennisha will also be pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree in Forensics & Communication here at Minnesota State, Mankato.

Tennisha attended school at the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire, where she was a member of the speech team. Tennisha competed in multiple PA and Interp events, but had a special love for persuasion. While at UWEC, Tennisha was able to attend the Interstate Oratory Contest (IOC), which she valued immensely. In particular, she found the ability to advocate for a topic that she felt connected to while sharing narratives that deserved to be told was even more refreshing in an environment that allowed speech to touch those outside of the speech community. Tennisha is super excited to get to experience the activity that she loves with a new group of people who are also passionate about the activity. She's also excited to try some new things and push some boundaries on speech norms.

Douglas Roberts

Graduate Assistant Coach

Douglas Roberts is one of our graduate assistant coaches. While coaching, Douglas will also be pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree in Forensics & Communication here at Minnesota State, Mankato.

Douglas is a first-year graduate coach at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Douglas graduated from Simpson College with a B.A. in music. While at Simpson they participated and coached Speech and Debate. As a competitor they gained national recognition multiple times as a competitor in both individual events, and debate events. As a coach they have coached both Speech and Debate events. Furthermore, Douglas has worked in private coaching market with HiElites teaching and coaching students from the United States and China as a Debate Instructor. It is their belief that this activity can change lives for the better. Forensics allows students to finally discover themselves and what truly is important to them. Douglas is excited and looks forward to working with the Minnesota State University, Mankato team.

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