First Seed at Emporia

Mendenhall & Zeigler were the top ranked seed at the Emporia tournament this weekend, without losing a single ballot in prelims. The open team of Ashley Denney & Caitlin Reynolds also cleared to elimination rounds as the 10th seed losing to the University of Texas at Dallas in the Octofinal Debate.

MZ defeated (narrowly), North Texas in the Octofinal, followed by a resounding victory over OU in the Quarter Finals before moving on to a clean win in Semifinals over the same team that had defeated Denney & Reynolds in the Octofinals. The only debate all weekend MZ lost was the final round to Wichita State. Beth & Derek both agreed to come back to Emporia next year to seal the deal.

Other awards of note, Maggie Weller & Steven Seib were the 3rd & 4th speakers respectively in the Junior Varsity division. There is a bright future for them in college debate for sure!

KSU Ranked in National Coaches Poll

Beth Mendenhall & Derek Zeigler have broken into the top 25 in the country- GO CATS - the October 17 Coaches poll is listed here:
1. Emory IW (20) -- 24.65 (3)
2. Michigan State LW (3) -- 23.05 (9)
3. Northwestern FS (1) -- 22.65 (2)
4. California BP -- 22.50 (4)
5. UT Dallas BR -- 21.04 (1)
6. Whitman CS -- 19.35 (7)
7. West Georgia BS -- 18.70 (5)
8. Harvard JP -- 18.54 (6)
9. Kansas KQ -- 15.61 (19)
10. Wake Forest MS -- 15.18 (8)
11. Oklahoma GW -- 15.13 (12)
12. Mary Washington KS -- 14.61 (16)
13. California BJ -- 12.61 (13)
14. Georgia CL -- 12.43 (11)
15. Emory GJ -- 11.09 (17)
16. Kansas KS -- 7.91 (14)
17. Harvard KR -- 6.71 (20)
18. Baylor CM -- 6.17 (10)
19. Idaho State JJ -- 6.08 (18)
20. Michigan LZ -- 4.04 (NR)
21. Kansas State MZ -- 3.75 (NR)
22. Southern California HL -- 3.13 (25)
23. UT San Antonio MT -- 2.71 (NR)
24. Gonzaga CJ -- 1.91 (22)
25. Vanderbilt BN -- 1.88 (NR)

Dropped out: No. 15 Missouri State FK, No. 21 Towson JM, No. 23 Emory NS, No. 24 Trinity BH

As a squad, KSU's entire debate team is currently ranked 17th- GO CATS!
Top 25 Schools (by total points to that school per eligible ballot):

1. Emory -- 36.12
2. California -- 36.07
3. Harvard -- 25.25
4. Northwestern -- 23.86
5. Kansas -- 23.52
6. Michigan State -- 23.05
7. UT Dallas -- 21.04
8. Whitman -- 19.35
9. West Georgia -- 18.70
10. Wake Forest -- 16.68
11. Oklahoma -- 15.13
12. Mary Washington -- 14.61
13. Georgia -- 12.43
14. Baylor -- 6.17
15. Idaho State -- 6.08
16. Michigan -- 4.04
17. Kansas State -- 3.75
18. Southern California -- 3.13
19. UT San Antonio -- 2.71
20. Gonzaga -- 1.91
21. Vanderbilt  -- 1.88
22. Iowa -- 1.83
23. Samford -- 1.79
24. Towson -- 1.52
25. Missouri State -- 1.04 

Kentucky Success

K-State had its best showing in almost a decade at the Kentucky tournament this weekend. 4 teams attended the tournament, Caitlin Reynolds & Ashley Denney made their national circuit debut. They came home feeling as if maybe they needed to refocus their efforts. The Team of Heather Woods & Blake Hallinan, fresh off their Semifinals appearance at the University of Northern Iowa two weeks ago felt the heat of national competition finishing with a 3-4 record. The team of Brett Farmer & Gloria Funcheon having reset their aff strategy going into the weekend posted their first winning record of the season finishing 4-3. Most exciting of all, the Team of Beth Mendenhall & Derek Zeigler not only posted a 5-2 winning record in prelims, but beat Harvard in the first out round only to lose to Northwestern in the second outround.

This achievement is huge, given that the Kentucky tournament is widely known as one of the most difficult in the season, so difficult in fact that KSU had steered away from the tournament for the last several years. Making it this far at the Kentucky tournament speaks volumes about the potential for the team this season.

Stay tuned for more news from this coming weekend at Kansas City Kansas Community College.