10.24.2007

K-State Debate Press

Check out K-State debate in the News:

KSU Press Release

10.12.2007

K-STATE RANKED 3RD IN NATION!

Top Ten Teams in Nation!

1. Binghamton
2. Kansas (Univ. of)

3. Kansas State

4. U.S. Military Academy
5. Cornell University
6. Wichita State
7. Southern California
8. Missouri-Kansas City
9. Gonzaga
10. Miami

10.11.2007

Cats in Vegas Baby!


Kansas State took one team to Las Vegas this last weekend for the first annual Vegas Classic debate tournament. Beth Mendenhall & Kyle Zarazan were accompanied by coaches Sarah & Megan on this trip.

The tournament started out great, Beth & Kyle were 3-1 on the first day beating teams that we love to beat like Wichita, Baylor & Emory. Comments on the first day included one judge telling the Cats that Kyle's 2AC was exactly how he would envision the perfect 2AC. Early on the second day, the Judge from our round 4 win over Emory went out of his way to find the KSU coaches and rave about what a good team Kyle & Beth were. Sunday was harder than Saturday as we debated the top of the bracket. Defeating yet another Emory team in the morning propelled us to debate the top seed & fellow Big 12 team Baylor. While we were not victorious in this debate, the Judge did indicate that he really enjoyed the debate. After this loss we had a hard time recovering, losing the next debate to Macalester.

At the end of the day, in the double octafinal debate, we met Vermont, both Megan & Sarah's Alma Mater. Megan was filled with intense desire to win coaching with incredible vigor. With everyone pumped going into the debate, Kyle & Beth held true to their mission solidly defeating the Catamounts on a 3-0 decision.

The next morning we were affirmative against arch rival KU and while one Judge said this was the best debate he had seen in five years, all three judges agreed that our time competing in Vegas was over. So, sadly we lost to KU.

Our loss to KU was softened by speaker awards. Kyle finished 15th in a field of 110 and Beth finished 8th. So, all in all it was a VERY successful weekend.

With 4 hours left after the awards ceremony before our flight left we checked out the Bellagio where we all realized that we are far better debaters than gamblers.

10.01.2007

1st Place in JV, 2nd Place in Novice and 3rd in Varsity at Missouri State!

Kansas State took 7.5 teams to compete at Missouri State University in 3 divisions of Policy Debate.

The Novice Team, Chelsea Good and Ian Stinson rebounded from their experience at UNI two weeks ago by clearing to elimination rounds with an undefeated 6-0 record in preliminary rounds. They won their semifinal debate on a 3-0 decision and unfortunately were defeated in the final round. However, an undefeated preliminary record is an accomplishment in and of itself and the Wildcats could not be more proud of the amazing turn-around this two person team has made.

In the Junior Division, Three K-State teams cleared to elimination rounds. After winning only one debate two weeks ago, Nikki Marcotte & Caitlin Reynolds came out of the gate looking for revenge- which they got as they advanced to elimination rounds with a 5-2 record. They won their partial octafinal debate and advanced to the quarterfinal debate where they unfortunately met another K-State team, Molly McGuire and John Grice who cleared with a 6-1 record as the top seeded team at the tournament. The third K-State team to clear in JV was comprised of Diante Calhoun & Alexis Robinson. Alexis stepped in after a break of almost a year to fill in for George who was unable to compete this weekend because of an injury. After deciding that they were going to debate together three days before the tournament, Diante & Alexis took command in preliminary rounds clearing with a 5-2 record and winning their partial octafinal debate. Diante & Alexis forged forward into the quarterfinal round where they lost a well fought debate. Nothing could stop Molly and John who stepped up in the Semifinals to beat an OU team on a 3-0 decision. Advancing to the finals, Molly & John again defeated an OU team on a 2-1 decision to be named the JV Champions of the tournament. It always feels good to win debates against this Big 12 rival school. All in all the Wildcats were 6-3 against the Sooners this weekend!

In Varsity, three K-State teams competed with two advancing to elimination rounds. Kara Thiele & Tristan Tafolla advanced to elimination rounds for the first time in their Varsity Collegiate debate careers. Although they lost in the partial octafinal debate they intend to clear at another tournament in our district so they may compete at the Wake Forest tournament in November. Traditionally known as the National Championship of the first semester, Wake Forest is a varsity only tournament and in order for a school to enter multiple teams each team must have advanced to elimination rounds at two other tournaments. Tristan & Kara are halfway there!

In other Varsity news, Jordan Hansen & Derek Ziegler advanced to elimination rounds as the 6th seed with a 5-2 record. They narrowly won their partial octafinal debate on a 2-1 decision and advanced to quarterfinals where they were victorious over a Missouri State team on a 3-0 decision. Derek & Jordan then competed in the semifinal debate where they were unfortunately defeated by a team from the University of Kansas. Derek & Jordan have however vowed to obtain revenge against KU in the future.

While team awards are the most important, there were several individual speaker awards handed out to KSU debaters this weekend:

In Novice, Chelsi was 9th and Ian was 8th!
In JV, Diante was 8th and John was the Top Speaker!
In Varsity Jordan narrowly missed the top 10 coming in as the 13th Speaker!

All in all, this was an amazing weekend for the Wildcats.

Squad record before this weekend: 36-64 36%
Squad record at Missouri State: 44-25 68%
Squad record after this weekend: 80-89 47%

For the Purple and the White!