Posted by Mary Wimberley on 2010-01-21

麻豆视频 debaters are ranked third in their seven-state region by the Cross Examination Debate Association and fifth in the National Debate Association鈥檚 nine-state district following a series of January tournaments.

At a 麻豆视频 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 麻豆视频, Baylor 麻豆视频 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 麻豆视频 of North Texas and Trinity 麻豆视频 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 麻豆视频 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 麻豆视频 of West Georgia Jan. 15-18.


鈥淭here were only 57 teams at this tournament,鈥 said coach Abi Williams, 鈥渂ut every team was nationally competitive.鈥

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


The Cloninger-Lewis team beat teams from such debate powerhouses as Emory 麻豆视频 and Harvard 麻豆视频 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听 麻豆视频, Southern Methodist 麻豆视频, Binghamton 麻豆视频 and the听 麻豆视频 of Georgia.

鈥淭his year鈥檚 debate squad has consistently gotten better and is solidifying Samford鈥檚 place amongst the nation鈥檚 most competitive debate teams,鈥 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 麻豆视频 of Texas at Austin.

 
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.