Southwest Baptist
University News Release
Contact:
Charlotte Marsch, Director of Marketing and Communications
(417)
328-1803 / cmarsch@sbuniv.edu
Speaking Bearcats finish the year
in “Superior” fashion
BOLIVAR, Mo. — The Speaking Bearcats from
Southwest Baptist University finished the 2012-2013 season in strong fashion,
earning “Superior” rankings in each of the three sweepstakes categories — debate,
individual events and overall — at the Pi Kappa Delta National Tournament March
13-16 at Webster University in St. Louis, Mo.
The tournament
featured entries from 86 colleges and universities from 36 different states.
The Speaking Bearcats finished with the third highest point total in overall
sweepstakes, finishing just behind William Carey University and defending champion
Boise State University.
“I am
very proud of the team,” said Dr. David Bailey the Director of Forensics. “Our
students did a tremendous job, especially when you consider that we are still
mostly a freshmen and sophomore squad. They fared very well competing against
teams that were much larger and more experienced.”
He was
quick to add, however, that it is both the educational value of the activity
and the sense of team-orientation that will benefit the students most.
“Success
is not measured in trophies. The real measure of the success of this year’s
team will be the later accomplishments of the team members themselves,” he
said. “The things they learned about public policy, argumentation, performance,
politics, economics and a host of other fields, combined with all the hours of
tedious practice and research it took to hone their performances, will pay
dividends for each one of them. That is what makes me proudest of all. I know
each one of them will make a difference in the world.”
The team
posted a number of strong results in debate including:
·
Nik
Fischer and Meg Burns were quarterfinalists in both parliamentary debate and
college public forum debate.
·
Julie
Strubinger and Maggie Thomas reached the quarterfinals of parliamentary debate.
·
Chad
Bryant went undefeated in preliminary rounds of public debate and reached the
quarterfinals of that event. His strong preliminary round results enabled him
to earn the “Top Superior” in novice public debate.
·
Leah
Cleek compiled a strong record in open public debate and narrowly missed
advancing to the elimination rounds of the event.
·
Bobby
Sterling received an “Excellent” (top 30 percent) award in novice legislative
debate.
·
Kaila
Todd received an “Excellent” award in discussion.
Squad
members also compiled a number of strong results in individual events:
·
Burns
earned the “Top Superior” award in communication analysis. She also earned
Superiors in “To Honor Pi Kappa Delta” and informative speaking. She earned
“Excellent” awards in program of oral interpretation and dramatic
interpretation.
·
Fischer
earned Superiors in communication analysis and impromptu speaking. Fischer
earned Excellent awards in extemporaneous speaking and “To Honor Pi Kappa
Delta.”
·
Strubinger
earned a Superior in informative speaking. She also earned “Good” ratings in
almost all of the rest of her events.
·
Thomas
earned a Superior in broadcast journalism. She also earned excellent awards in
communication analysis and persuasive speaking.
·
Cleek
earned Excellent awards in persuasive speaking and communication analysis.
·
Hannah
Larino earned a Good in communication analysis and was a participant in the PKD
showcase for that event.
·
Chad
Bryant earned an Excellent award in after-dinner speaking.
“We also
acknowledge each of the other students who traveled with the team to nationals
and assisted us by earning a ‘Good’ in at least one of their respective speech
or debate events,” Dr. Bailey said. They are Matt Adams, Catie Lathrop, Micah
Jordan and the Reader’s Theatre team of Trevor Parrish, Jessica Palen and Kati
Clair.
The tournament
was the final team outing for the 2012-2013 season except for Thomas, who will
be competing in the Interstate Oratorical Contest in Shreveport, La., April
25-27.
Dr.
Bailey noted it was an important year for the SBU Forensics Program.
“This
year we reclaimed the overall sweepstakes title at our state tournament and
took a significant jump up in our standings at PKD nationals; we finished eighth
last year and 18th the year before that,” he said. “I look forward
to the future growth of the SBU Forensics Program.”
For
more information about the Bob R. Derryberry School of Communication Arts and
the SBU Forensics Program, contact Dr. Bailey at (417) 328-1697 or
dbailey@sbuniv.edu.
###
Photo cutline: SBU Forensics team members
competing at the PKD National Tournament are, from left, front row — Dr. David
Bailey, Kaila Todd, Catie Lathrop, Meg Burns, Leah Cleek, Julie Strubinger,
Mrs. Rebecca Godsey; back row — Matt Adams, Chad Bryant, Bobby Sterling, Nik
Fischer, Maggie Thomas, Micah Jordan, Jessica Palen, Hannah Larino and Kati Clair.
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.
