Debate finishes first at opening competition

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Debate finishes first at opening competition
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PHOTO: The Hillsdale Debate team that took first place at their opening competition. (Courtesy)

Hillsdale College’s debate team took first place at Western Kentucky University’s Fall Fiesta Tournament.

The team competed Friday through Sunday in Lincoln-Douglas debates, one-on-one. Despite having several new members, the team rose to win its first competition of the year. Freshman Henrey Deese qualified for the national tournament in April, after winning four of his six debates.

The team took on students from Central Michigan University, Pennsylvania’s Lafayette College, and California State University, Chico. There were 30 students in the open division and 26 in the novice competition.

There, the freshmen were the only participants to advance for Hillsdale. Seven Hillsdale students competed, and four freshmen moved onto the elimination rounds. Elizabeth Owen placed sixth overall and took the second place speaker award.

“A speaker award is based on how well judges thought you spoke in a round, independent of your wins and losses,” said Matthew Doggett, the team’s coach and assistant professor of rhetoric and public address.

Freshmen Joel Meng earned third place, Deese came in eighth, and Natalie Van Handel Handel took 10th.

“Because of their strong performances, several of these students will likely move up from novice to the open level in their next tournament,” senior Graham Deese said.

The open debate is the “varsity” category, Graham Deese said. He received the first place speaker award and placed 10th overall.

“All of our students won multiple rounds, even the debaters with no prior experience,” Deese said. “Natalie Van Handel, who had her first debate round only a week before the tournament, managed to have a winning record and advance to elimination rounds.”

Handel had never participated in a debate before the event. She said she almost didn’t compete at all.

“I was honestly so nervous about going to the tournament that I even considered backing out,” she said. “After competing at Western Kentucky this past weekend, I realized how much I love debate.”

The team debates one topic each year. This season, the focus is “The United States federal Government should substantially reduce the role of the United States Southern Command in Latin America.”

The team’s next competition is Oct. 1-2 at Lafayette College.