Debate team wins 5th in national meet
The George R. Brown Forensic Society finished its season in fifth place after competing at the American Forensic Association National Individual Events Tournament last week.
From April 5 through April 8, over 660 students, in teams from115 colleges and universities from around the country, competed in the largest-ever tournament of its kind at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
Rice performed well, continuing a trend of improvement which began three years ago. Two years ago, Rice came in 24th; last year, they reached ninth place overall; and this year, they rose to fifth place.
Rice had several top-10 finishers in the individual categories. Kurtis McCathern, a Will Rice College sophomore, won the National Championship in impromptu speaking, while Darien Lynx, a Jones College junior, came in fifth. Lovett College junior Scott Ruthfield finished fifth in extemporaneous speaking, followed by Lovett junior Brent Stolle in sixth place.
Semifinalists included Ruthfield in impromptu speaking and communication analysis, Brown College sophomore Lauren McGarity in informative speaking and WRC junior Ryan Levy in extemporaneous speaking.
Jones sophomore Ravi Krishnan finished in the quarterfinals in impromptu speaking; McGarity and Lovett junior Travis Hopp made the quarterfinals in extemporaneous speaking.
The 12 members of the team qualified for the tournament by taking top places in each event at three separate tournaments in each event throughout the season, which lasts from September through April.
Overall, Bradley University took first place at the tournament, as they have in 13 of the past 15 years, with the University of Texas taking second, Arizona State University finishing third, University of Pennsylvania at fourth and Rice breaking into the top five for the first time in several years.
"This was one of the closest tournaments ever. Fifth place ties the best Rice has ever done. We are the only school in the country to be ranked in the top five in both speech and parliamentary debate this year," Ruthfield said.
The 28-member GRB Forensic Society has an excellent track record; they finished the season with three national champions, McCathern in the national speech tournament last week and Ruthfield and Levy in the National Debate Championships two weeks ago.
Things look good for the 1996-97 season as well.
"We're definitely on the way up," Ruthfield said. "All of our students this year were juniors or lower, so we can only get better. A lot of teams are graduating their top competitors, but we are keeping ours."
Coach Dan West said, "The trick is in recruitment and retention."
"Each year that I have been here, we have brought in a good freshman class. I'm sure we'll be able to do the same this fall. A lot of people don't realize that a number of our students have little or no experience in competitive public speaking when they join the team. Our team is open to any Rice student," West said.
Interested students are encouraged to talk to West about the fall season, which begins next September.
This item appeared in the News section of the April 19, 1996 issue.
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