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Marsch, Director of Marketing and Communications
417-328-1803/cmarsch@sbuniv.edu
Speaking Bearcats recapture MAFA
title
BOLIVAR, Mo. – The Speaking Bearcats placed first in overall sweepstakes against a dozen colleges and universities across the state and region in the Missouri Association of Forensics Activities state tournament Feb. 15 and 16 at SBU.
“Our strong
finish at the MAFA tournament was especially nice because it had been several
years since the team had captured the top sweepstakes spot at the state
tournament,” said Dr. David Bailey, SBU’s director of forensics, noting that
the team last won the sweepstakes in 2009. “The intense level of competition we
saw at this year’s tournament in both individual events and speech made this an
especially satisfying achievement.”
SBU’s team overcame
some unexpected challenges on the way to victory.
“A number
of the Speaking Bearcats were either sick that weekend or had just gotten over
being sick — which, of course, really messed around with our practice time,”
Bailey said. “We were determined not to make excuses, but our team illnesses
certainly did add to the challenge.”
The
Speaking Bearcats finished second place in debate sweepstakes after piling up 18
debate wins in the preliminary rounds of both parliamentary and Lincoln Douglas
debate. As has been the case all year, SBU’s first-year competitors fared well
for their team.
·
Freshman
Micah Jordan was a semi-finalist in novice Lincoln-Douglas debate. He was also
the third-place speaker in that event.
·
The
freshman team of Bobby Sterling and Micah Jordan was a semifinalist in novice
parliamentary debate. Sterling took fifth place speaker in that event, while
Micah Jordan finished fourth.
·
The
novice team of Julie Strubinger and Maggie Thomas also reached the semi-finals
of novice parliamentary debate. Thomas was the top speaker in novice
parliamentary debate, while Strubinger took second place speaker.
·
In
Open Parliamentary Debate, Meg Burns was the eighth-place speaker.
The team
finished in fourth place in individual events sweepstakes behind a number of
strong individual performances.
“Sophomore
Meg Burns had an impressive tournament with strong finishes, including fourth
place informative speaking, third place dramatic interpretation, third place
prose interpretation and second place communication analysis,” Bailey said. “These
strong results allowed Burns to finish the tournament in third place in pentathlon
sweepstakes — essentially meaning she was the third highest individual scorer
at the tournament.
Other
individual achievements include:
·
Julie
Strubinger placed fifth in informative speaking and fourth place and top novice
in after-dinner speaking.
·
Freshman
Leah Cleek placed sixth in prose interpretation, sixth in impromptu speaking
and fifth place in oratory.
·
Thomas
and Sterling were named the top novice team in duo interpretation. Thomas also
qualified to represent the state of Missouri at the Interstate Oratorical
Competition this April in Shreveport, La., by virtue of her third-place finish
in oratory.
·
Freshman
Chad Bryant placed fifth in after-dinner speaking.
The MAFA
State Championship Tournament was the team’s last competition prior to the Pi
Kappa Delta National Tournament March 13-17 in St. Louis.
 | ||
| Southwest Baptist University Speaking Bearcats are, from left, front row — Julie Strubinger, Leah Cleek, Kaila Todd, Meg Burns, Catie Lathrop; back row — Mrs. Rebecca Godsey (assistant director of forensics), Chad Bryant, Maggie Thomas, Bobby Sterling, Hannah Larino, Micah Jordan and Dr. David Bailey (director of forensics). |
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