Debate team places third at Portland tournament

USU’s speech and debate team took third place overall during a tournament this past weekend in Portland, Ore.

The team took first, third and fourth place in debate, competing against 41 teams.

Tom Worthen, director and coach of the debate team, said he was pleased with the results and hopes they can continue to do well.

“Just going to a tournament is always a test. This is a test we passed and we hope we are on our way to take the conference again,” Worthen said.

Di Lewis and Eric Peatross took first place in debate, but the circumstances of their win were very strange, Worthen said. In the final round, after Lewis and Peatross had delivered their speeches, the opposing team conceded and offered no contest, saying they knew defeat when they saw it, Worthen said.

Trevor Linderman, who took third in debate with his partner Tom Grover, said he enjoys doing debate and hopes the team will have continued success.

“I love doing it. I love hanging out with good people, developing my skills and seeing the country,” Linderman said. “It’s a lot of hard work and really educational.”

Natalie Cook and Megan Scott placed fourth in novice debate.

Linderman said several topics were debated at the tournament including stem cell research, immigration, the conflicts in Israel and Iraq, nuclear energy and living wages.

Individual team members also placed in the top three in several forums. Mike Smith took first place in novice persuasion and third in novice informative speaking. Jane McBride placed third in informative speaking, and Linderman received first place in persuasion. He also placed first in dramatic duo interpretation, partnering with Eric Peatross. In prose interpretation, Di Lewis took first. Megan Scott received second place in novice informative speaking.

The 10-student team competed against 41 universities from eight states in the west in the North West Forensic Conference. Their next tournament is during November in Oregon.

ariek@cc.usu.edu