Published on September 27, 2023 by Ryan Galloway  
Northwestern Debate Tournament 2023

The Samford Debate team was successful at their first tournament of the season at Northwestern Âé¶¹ÊÓÆµ from Sept. 16-19. 

Sarah Chew and Laurel Pack finished in the Elite Eight of Junior Varsity, defeating teams from CSU Long Beach, Missouri State, the Âé¶¹ÊÓÆµ of Houston, Emory Âé¶¹ÊÓÆµ and the Âé¶¹ÊÓÆµ of Indiana. Pack was named the third speaker and Chew was named the fourth speaker.

Abby Montgomery and Grace Scott also competed in Junior Varsity, defeating the Âé¶¹ÊÓÆµ of Michigan, CSU Long Beach and the Âé¶¹ÊÓÆµ of Houston teams.

Mary Grace Hammond competed with a debater from the Âé¶¹ÊÓÆµ of Houston, defeating teams from Weber State and the Âé¶¹ÊÓÆµ of Indiana.

Varsity teammates Ella Ford and Joey Tarnowski defeated UC Berkeley, Southern Nazarene and Emory Âé¶¹ÊÓÆµ teams. Varsity teammates Grace Blackwell and TJ Riggs defeated Michigan State Âé¶¹ÊÓÆµ and Weber State Âé¶¹ÊÓÆµ teams.

The squad competes at the Âé¶¹ÊÓÆµ of Kentucky tournament in Lexington next week. 

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks with the second highest score in the nation for its 98% Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.