Published on January 20, 2010 at 6 p.m. by Mary Wimberley  

Â鶹ÊÓƵ debaters are ranked third in their seven-state region by the Cross Examination Debate Association and fifth in the National Debate Association’s nine-state district following a series of January tournaments.

At a Â鶹ÊÓƵ of Texas at Dallas tournament Jan. 9-11, teammates Dan Bagwell and Logan Gramzinski won five of seven preliminary rounds to advance to quarter-final competition. Their record included wins over teams from Weber State Â鶹ÊÓƵ, Baylor Â鶹ÊÓƵ and Dartmouth College. Gramzinski, a junior from Covington, Ga., was named third best overall speaker out of 242 individual competitors.

At the same tournament, the Samford team of Jayme Cloninger and Jacob Lewis beat teams from Â鶹ÊÓƵ of North Texas and Trinity Â鶹ÊÓƵ to claim four wins in preliminary rounds.

Earlier in the month, Gramzinski and Bagwell had prevailed after a 13-hour van ride to merit the Sweet 16 round at a Â鶹ÊÓƵ of North Texas tournament, held Jan. 4-7. Gramzinski was named 13th overall speaker. Bagwell, a sophomore from Damascus, Ga., was named 21st overall speaker out of 202 debaters at the tournament in Denton, Texas.

The January road trip ended with a small, but tough tournament at the Â鶹ÊÓƵ of West Georgia Jan. 15-18.


“There were only 57 teams at this tournament,” said coach Abi Williams, “but every team was nationally competitive.”

 

Bagwell and Gramzinski advanced to the top 16 before losing a 2-1 decision to the reigning Cross Examination Debate Association champions from Towson Â鶹ÊÓƵ. Gramzinski was named 13th best overall speaker. Bagwell was ranked 27th.


The Cloninger-Lewis team beat teams from such debate powerhouses as Emory Â鶹ÊÓƵ and Harvard Â鶹ÊÓƵ to win three preliminary rounds at the West Georgia tournament.

Samford freshman debaters Kaitlin Defoor and Robert Elliott won preliminary rounds at each of the three January tournaments, scoring victories over such schools as Rochester  Â鶹ÊÓƵ, Southern Methodist Â鶹ÊÓƵ, Binghamton Â鶹ÊÓƵ and the  Â鶹ÊÓƵ of Georgia.

“This year’s debate squad has consistently gotten better and is solidifying Samford’s place amongst the nation’s most competitive debate teams,” said Williams.


The squad will take a break from competition before returning to the Lone Star state Feb. 6-8 for a tournament at the Â鶹ÊÓƵ of Texas at Austin.

 
Located in the Homewood suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, 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 enrolls 6,324 students from 44 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. Ranked among U.S. News & World Report’s 35 Most Beautiful College Campuses, Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and boasts one of the highest scores in the nation for its 97% Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.