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March 29, 2007
Debate Team Makes History
Texas Tech's parliamentary debate squad finishes 4th at national competition.
Written by John Davis
For the first time in school history, the Texas Tech parliamentary debate squad finished among the top 5 schools in the nation, placing fourth at the National Parliamentary Debate Association’s Championship Tournament, held March 22-25 in Colorado Springs, Colo.
The National Parliamentary Debate Association is the largest intercollegiate debate association in the United States. Of the 240 teams from 81 colleges and universities Texas Tech University had three of the top 16 teams this year.
Joe Gantt, director of forensics, says he is proud of his team for making school history with their debate standing. Gantt is also the executive secretary of the NPDA.
“I had high expectations going into this tournament,” Gantt says. “We have worked hard all year, and that hard work came to fruition in Colorado Springs. I truly believe that we have a team that every member of the Texas Tech community can be proud of.”
Texas Tech's exceptional performance was led by the team of Kristen Owen, a junior communication studies/political science major from Houston, and Anthony Putnicki, a junior philosophy major from El Paso.
Owen and Putnicki compiled a 6-2 record in preliminary debates and then won five consecutive elimination round debates before finally falling in the semifinal round. They finished as the 3rd place team in the nation. Owen and Putnicki also were honored as two of the top twenty individual speakers at the tournament out of 480 total speakers.
Two other Texas Tech teams also turned in strong performances, allowing the university to claim its high ranking. The team of Jacob Parks, a senior English major from Midland, and Tim West, a senior political science major from Amarillo, finished in a tie for 9th place with squadmates Mike Mitchell, a junior mass communications major from Lamesa, and Vamsi Vemuru, a senior political science major from Odessa.
Both teams compiled a 5-3 preliminary round record and won three elimination rounds each before being defeated. West was also honored as the thirteenth best speaker in the nation.
Texas Tech debaters placed fourth above teams from universities such as University of Notre Dame, Lewis & Clark College, Oregon State University, Purdue University, Rice University and the University of California-Berkeley.
The tournament concludes the season for the Texas Tech debaters, though the individual events competitors on the squad will travel to Mankato, Minn., April 5-10 for their national tournament.
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