On March 5, the Belmont University Speech and Debate team was awarded first place at the National Christian College Forensics Invitational. Held at Cedarville University, the tournament included 27 universities from across the country competing in debate and individual events.
This is the first time Belmont has won the national title, previously scoring as high as third place. Coach Jason Stahl noted, “In previous years we had talented debaters or individual event competitors. This year we were lucky enough to have hard working and talented students in both.”
Overall, Belmont won second place in the debate division, only four points behind the first place team at 139 to 143. Belmont also was ranked second in the individual event division, more than doubling the points of the third place team. While winning either award at this national competition alone would have been a great honor, together they led Belmont to their first place national title.
In the debate division Belmont closed-out novice Lincoln-Douglas debate finals with all Belmont students. In the individual event division Belmont received an impressive 39 awards, including five national championships. Assistant Coach Ryan Greenawalt added, “There were other teams that were bigger and competed in more events than us, but the quality of our students’ events led us to success. It was a true Cinderella story for Belmont to come out of nowhere and surprise everyone.”
The Belmont team shows a great ability for success next year as they will only graduate one of 15 team members. Senior team captain Wesley Rainer said, “NCCFI this year was one of my best experiences as a member of the speech and debate team. The competition was incredibly tough, making winning feel even better.”
Full List of Awards:
Parliamentary Debate
• JV Speaker: Eric Schoen, 10th place
• Novice Speaker:
o Jessica Plowman, 2nd place
o Nicole Bright, 7th place
o Logan Lowder, 8th place
o Kate Tully, 10th place
• Kate Tully & Nicole Bright, Novice debate semi-finalists
Lincoln-Douglas Debate
• Jessica Plowman: Semi-Finalist
• Meghan McKechnie: Finalist (close-out)
• Alex Jones: Finalsit (close-out)
Overall Debate Sweepstakes: 2nd place
Individual Event Awards
• Readers’ Theater: 1st place
• Novice Extemp: Meghan McKechnie, 5th place; Bethany Miller, 3rd place
• Varsity Informative: Wesley Rainer, 6th place
• Novice Informative: Kate Tully, 6th place; Bethany Miller, 4th place
• Novice After Dinner Speaking: Kate Tully, 5th place; Nicole Bright, 3rd place; Alex Jones, 1st place
• Varsity Poetry: Eric Schoen, 4th place
• Novice Poetry: Nicole Bright, 3rd place
• Varsity Prose: Eric Schoen, 4th place
• Novice Prose: Jaiden Phelps, 2nd place; Nicole Bright, 1st place
• Varsity Faith Literature: Eric Schoen, 3rd place
• Novice Impromptu: Kate Tully, semi-finalist; Jaiden Phelps, semi-finalist; Meghan McKechnie, 6th place
• Novice Persuasion: Jessica Plowman, 3rd place; Meghan McKechnie, 2nd place
• Varsity Communication Analysis: Eric Schoen, 2nd place
• Novice Communication Analysis: Alex Jones, 2nd place
• Novice Programmed Oral Interpretation: Kate Tully, 6th place; Nicole Bright, 3rd place; Jaiden Phelps, 1st place
• Novice Dramatic Interpretation: Nicole Bright, 6th place; Bethany Miller, 5th place; Kate Tully, 4th palce
• Varsity Individual Events Competitor: Eric Schoen, 3rd place
• Varsity Overall Competitor Award: Wesley Rainer, 8th place; Eric Schoen, 4th place
• Novice Individual Events Competitor: Alex Jones, 9th place, Bethany Miller, 8th place; Jaiden Phelps, 6th place; Nicole Bright, 2nd place
• Novice Overall Competitor Award: Bethany Miler, 7th place, Nicole Bright, 4th place; Alex Jones, 3rd place; Kate Tully, 1st place
IE Overall Award: 2nd place
Overall Team Award: 1st place
