McKendree Debaters Prepare for Nationals
Lebanon, Ill. — The highly ranked McKendree University debate team departs on Mar.
15 for the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence (NPTE) and the National
Parliamentary Debate Association championship tournament (NPDA). Both tournaments
are hosted by Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash. Additionally, some
members of the McKendree debate team will compete in the National Comprehensive Tournament
in Overland Park, Ks.
McKendree is ranked eighth of 225 schools in NPDA season sweepstakes, ahead of schools
such as the University of Oregon, the University of California at Berkeley, Purdue
University and Southern Illinois University.
Five McKendree teams are ranked in the NPTE top 100. Brent Nicholson and Ben Reid
are ranked sixth of 878 teams, while Ian Reynolds and Brad Thomas are in 16th place. Also in the top 100 are Lucas Barker and Mat Myles, 46th; Alex Cunningham and Zak Kilhoffer, 83rd; and Anna Chambers and Sarah DeBruyckere, 93rd.
“We have had a tremendously successful regular season,” said Joe Blasdel, McKendree
University debate coach. “This is the first time in program history that we’ve had
five teams in the Top 100 and two teams in the Top 20. Currently, we are working hard
to prepare for nationals and I expect that we will continue the success of the regular
season at nationals.”
-McK-
