Southwest Baptist
University News Release
Contact:
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417-328-1803
BOLIVAR, Mo. – The SBU Speaking Bearcats earned top ranks during their busy October schedule as they travelled back to back to University of Central Missouri’s Mule Tournament, October 19-21 and Longview’s Central States Swing Tournament, October 26-27.
At
the Mule Tournament, the Bearcats earned third place in debate, bringing home
numerous individual awards both in debate and individual event fields. Novice
debaters Kaila Todd, Julie Strubinger, Maggie Thomas, Bobby Sterling, Catie
Lathrop, and Micah Jordan closed out the novice competition in parliamentary debate.
Open debate competitors Nik Fischer and Leah Cleek were parliamentary debate quarterfinalists.
In
the first half of the Mule Tournament, freshmen Leah Cleek took home second
place and top novice in persuasive speaking and second and top novice in
communication analysis. Sophomore Nik Fischer earned fourth place in
communication analysis and fifth in extemporaneous speaking. Sophomore Kaila
Todd placed sixth in persuasive speaking.
In
the second half of the Mule Tournament, Leah Cleek picked up third place and
top novice in persuade, fourth and top novice in communication analysis, and
fifth and top novice in impromptu speaking. Nik Fischer took sixth place in
communication analysis and fourth in extemporaneous speaking.
At
the Central States Swing, the Bearcats overcame the competition and brought
home first place overall for the first half of the tournament. The Speaking
Bearcats again posted strong results in parliamentary debate. In fact every one
of SBU’s parliamentary debate teams reached elimination rounds. Nik Fischer and
Meg Burns reached quarterfinals in open parliamentary debate. Chad Bryant and
Hannah Larino reached quarterfinals in novice parliamentary debate. Maggie
Thomas and Julie Strubinger reached the semifinals of novice parliamentary
debate, while Kaila Todd and Leah Cleek finished in second place in the event.
In
individual events, the SBU team members earned great success. Sophomore Meg
Burns won first place in informative speaking, second in prose, and third in
program of oral interpretation. Leah Cleek won first place in impromptu speaking
and third in communication analysis. Freshmen Julie Strubinger brought home
second place in informative speaking and sixth in impromptu speaking. Nik Fischer
picked up second place in communication analysis and fifth in informative speaking.
Kaila Todd took fifth place in impromptu speaking. Freshmen Hannah Larino and
Chad Bryant broke into after dinner speaking, earning fourth and fifth place
respectively.
The
SBU Speaking Bearcats will be traveling to compete at the nation’s oldest
multiple-event tournament, the 82nd Mahaffey Memorial Tournament
hosted by Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon, November 9-11.
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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. At SBU, the faculty and staff create a caring, academic
community to prepare students to be servant leaders in a global society. For
more information, visit www.SBUniv.edu.
