Southwest Baptist University News Release
Contact: Sharina Smith, Office of Marketing & Communications
BOLIVAR, Mo. – The speech and debate team from Southwest Baptist University attended the Missouri Association of Forensics Activities (MAFA) state tournament, February 18-19, on the campuses of Drury and Evangel Universities in Springfield, Mo. The Speaking Bearcats took home fourth place in overall sweepstakes out of a field of thirteen schools.
"The competition at this year's MAFA tournament was excellent," noted Dr. David Bailey, SBU's Director of Forensics. “In recent years our state tournament has been open to schools outside of Missouri as well, making it a highly competitive field of regional forensics powers." Dr. Bailey put the Speaking Bearcats' finish into perspective: "We were extremely proud of the team given that we had the smallest overall entry out of any school which finished in the top five. In short, we had very good overall quality. We are even prouder of the fact that we received excellent contributions from our freshmen and our seniors. It truly was a team accomplishment. "
Seniors Caprice Applequist and Jordan Hart led the way for the Speaking Bearcats. Applequist won the State Championship in After Dinner Speaking, finished fourth place in Extemporaneous Speaking, and earned a fifth place finish in the Individual Events Pentathlon.
Hart won the State Championship in Communication Analysis, took second place in Oratory, finished third place in Extemporaneous Speaking, fifth place in Program of Oral Interpretation, third in Impromptu Speaking, and earned a second place finish in Individual Events Pentathlon. Hart's second place finish in Oratory allowed him to qualify to participate in this year's Interstate Oratorical Competition to be held at James Madison University in late April.
"The Interstate Oratorical competition is over one hundred and forty years old and is an opportunity for some of the very best persuasive speakers around the country to represent their respective states and programs. Each year every state designates only two representatives to send to this prestigious tournament. We are proud of Jordan for the work he did to qualify for this event" noted Dr. Bailey.
In only her second tournament with the team freshman Kayla Duffey finished fourth in Program of Oral Interpretation while fellow freshman Matt Adams finished in fifth place in After Dinner Speaking.
The Speaking Bearcats will take the next two weekends off to practice for the National Christian College Forensics Invitational to be held at Azusa Pacific University in Los Angeles, California March 10-13.
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Southwest Baptist University is a leader among private universities in truly integrating Christ-centered academic pursuits with comprehensive professional programs at an affordable price. Since 1878, the faculty and staff have created a caring, academic community to prepare students to be servant leaders in a global society. The University has been named one of America’s Best Christian Colleges® for 14 consecutive years, one of America’s 100 Best College Buys® for 15 consecutive years, and it has been named among institutions with America’s Best College Scholarships ® for the past four years by Institutional Research and Evaluation, Inc.
For more information, visit www.SBUniv.edu. SBU’s Office of Marketing & Communications is available to news media 24/7 at 417-399-7918.
