BOLIVAR, Mo. – The Southwest Baptist University Speaking Bearcats kicked off the Thanksgiving break with a pair of tournaments in Bowling Green, Ohio, posting strong results in both the Falcon Classic on Nov. 17 and the Birds of a Feather tournament on Nov. 18.
In the Falcon Classic, the team participated only in debate, racking up several victories.
SBU dominated the field by claiming five of the top eight spots in international debate association (IPDA). Alexa Bell, Abigail Andrews and Christina Foltz all reached the quarterfinals; Evan Kirksey advanced to the semifinals; and Mitchel Huston finished second in IPDA. In addition, Mariah Gilmore and Jeffrey Metzler posted a winning record in parliamentary debate.
The Speaking Bearcats competed entirely in the speech events in the Birds of a Feather tournament, finishing second out of 18 schools in sweepstakes.
“This tournament was a chance for us to go ‘off-circuit,’” said Dr. David Bailey, director of forensics. “One of the ways that we try to have a national-caliber team is that we must occasionally go far out of our region to see some of the same competition and judges that we will encounter later on in the season when we compete for the national championship.
“Our team did quite well for being relatively young and for being ‘strangers’ to much of the competition.”
Speaking Bearcats tournament highlights included:
- Mikayla Throne (senior) – fifth place in program of oral interpretation; fourth in informative speaking; third in duo interpretation (with sophomore Katelyn Bloom).
- Andrew DeShon (senior) – fifth place in impromptu speaking; third in communication analysis.
- Mariah Gilmore (junior) – sixth place in impromptu speaking; sixth in duo interpretation (with freshman Mitchell Huston); second place in the individual sweepstakes competition.
- Jeffrey Metzler (junior) – third place in persuasion; tournament champion in duo interpretation (with Huston).
- Breanna Prater (sophomore) – third place in extemporaneous speaking; fifth in informative; fourth in communication analysis.
- Katelyn Bloom (sophomore) – tournament champion in broadcasting; fourth in poetry; third in duo interpretation (with Throne).
- Spencer VanSickle (sophomore) – fourth place in persuasion.
- Evan Kirksey (sophomore) – sixth place in persuasion; second in radio broadcasting.
- Jessica Paxton (freshman) – sixth place in radio broadcasting.
- Mitchell Huston (freshman) – sixth place in duo interpretation (with Gilmore); tournament co-champion in duo interpretation (with Metzler).
- Christina Foltz (sophomore) and Alexa Bell (sophomore) – fourth place in duo interpretation.
With the Christmas break approaching, the team will take a break before their next tournament – the Gorlok Gala on Jan. 25-27, 2019, at Webster University in St. Louis. For more information about SBU Speech and Debate, please contact Bailey at (417) 328-1697 or dbailey@SBUniv.edu.
PHOTO: (Front row, left to right): Turner McCrackin, Katelyn Bloom, Mariah Gilmore, Evan Kirksey and Breanna Prater. (Second row, left to right): Andrew DeShon, Christina Foltz, Mikayla Throne, Alexa Bell, Mitchell Huston and Jessica Paxton. (Back row, left to right): Jeffrey Metzler, Abigail Adams and Spencer VanSickle.
*Published: 11-28-18