Rice Speech and Debate Ranked 7th in the Nation, Wins 53 Awards Since
October 11!
The George R. Brown Forensics Society, Rice’s Speech and Debate team,
is currently ranked 7th in the nation (out of 74 ranked teams) in
debate, according to the National Parliamentary Debate Association.
This is a significant feat for a team with only two seniors and mostly
composed of first-year and sophomore students. This ranking is
undoubtedly due to the hard work the team has been putting in all
semester, earning 53 awards since October. Results from six events
since early October are listed in this update.
Lewis & Clark College-Steve Hunt Classic: (10/11/13)
53 debate in Varsity Parliamentary debate from 24 universities.
First-year student Vera Ranneft: 17th Speaker (out of 106)
Bayou City Swing, Houston, TX 10/18-20
37 debate teams and 350 individual event entries from 20 universities.
Overall Swing Sweepstakes: 2nd Place
Day 1:
Debate Sweepstakes: 1st Place
Individual Event Sweepstakes: 3rd Place
Matt Proffitt: 1st Place Top Debate speaker, 4th Impromptu Speaking,
Semifinalist in Extemporaneous Speaking
Brittney Xu: 2nd Place Top Debate Speaker
Vera Ranneft: 5th Place Top Debate Speaker, Semis in Extemporaneous
Speaking, 3rd Palace Impromptu Speaking
Jyra Bickham: 1st Place Impromptu Speaking, 2nd Place Communication
Analysis,
Kristian Edosomwan: 2nd Place Impromptu Speaking, 5th Place
Communication Analysis
Brandon Wilson: 7th Place Programmed Oral Interpretation
Day 2:
Kristian Edosomwan: 1st Place Communication Analysis, 2nd Place
Extemporaneous Speaking (qualifying for Nationals) 3rd Place
Individual Sweepstakes
Jyra Bickham: 4th Place Communication Analysis, Impromptu Speaking,
2nd Place Persuasive Speaking
Vera Ranneft: 1st Place Impromptu Speaking (qualifying for Nationals)
5th Place Extemporaneous Speaking
Matt Proffitt: 1st Place Extemporaneous Speaking
Jacob Mansfield: 3rd Place Impromptu Speaking
Public Debate at Rice
Rice debated the British National Team and the University of Houston
on campus on October 17th. The event was attended by more than 50
people. While no winner was declared in this unusual 3-sided debate,
the debaters were fantastic and the public discussion involving the
audience after the debate was lively and enlightening. The topic for
the debate was the role of the United States in the Global Economy and
was especially relevant given the recent government shutdown and
possible debt default that week.
Colorado College-Al Johnson Memorial Tournament (10/25-27):
66 debate entries and 226 individual event entries from 16 universities.
Michael Portal: 1st Place Lincoln-Douglas Debate
Michael Portal and Alice Chen: Octafinalists, Varity Parliamentary Debate
Matt Proffitt: 1st Place Top Junior Varsity Parliamentary Debate
Speaker, 2nd Place Impromptu Speaking, 3rd Place Communication
Analysis,
Arizona State University-West by Southwest Swing (10/26-27)
Nationals preview. 436 individual event entries from 13 universities.
Day 1:
Team: 5th Place Sweepstakes
Kristian Edosomwan: 3rd Place Impromptu Speaking, 3rd Place
Communication Analysis, 6th Place Persuasive Speaking, 3rd Place
Individual Sweepstakes
Sylvia Omozzee: 5th Place Persuasive,
Day 2:
Team: 4th Place Sweepstakes
Sisi Xue: 4th Place Communication Analysis
Jyra Biuckham: 6th Place Impromptu Speaking
Kristian Edosomwan: 1st Place Impromptu Speaking, 6th Place
Extemporaneous Speaking
University of the Pacific-Paul Winters Invitational (10/31-11/3)
45 Universities with 195 debate entries and 356 individual event entries.
Team: 1st Place Perpetual Sweepstakes (Ongoing over the 9 years the
tournament has been held. Rice won despite having missed the last two
years!)
Overall Sweepstakes: 6th Place
Ebore Awano: Top Speaker, Junior Varsity Parliamentary Debate
Vera Ranneft: 1st Place Extemporaneous Speaking (qualifying for
Nationals)
Hee Zhi Poh: 12th Place overall Speaker, Junior Varsity Parliamentary
Debate
Ebore Awano and Hee Zhi Poh: Quarterfinals in Junior Varsity
Parliamentary Debate
Brittney Xu and Patrick Shipsey: Double-Octafinalists, Varsity
Parliamentary Debate
Nirali Desai and Ryan Sun: Double-Octafinalists, Varsity Parliamentary
Debate
Lincoln Douglas Debate:
Nirali Desai: Octafinalist, Lincoln-Douglas Debate
Brittney Xu: 2nd Place Lincoln-Douglas Debate
Michael Portal: Semifinalist, Lincoln-Douglas Debate
Vera Ranneft: Quarterfinalist, Lincoln-Douglas Debate
This completes competition for the team for the Fall semester. The
team will resume competition in Spring 2014. The team is coached by
David Worth and Shannon LaBove. To learn more, visit
humanities.rice.edu/forensics