The LSU Speech and Debate Team traveled to Feb. 2 San Diego for a national tournament on the heels of their state championship victory. The Sunset Cliffs Classic was held at Point Loma Nazarene University. Four students represented LSU in the competition. Stephen Chandler was a double-octafinalist in Senior National Parliamentary Debate Association Debate. Team captain Chris Cummings was a double-octafinalist in Senior NPDA debate with Chandler and was a quarterfinalist in Lincoln-Douglas debate. Kevin Garner was sixth place in speech to entertain and twelfth place as a Junior NPDA Speaker. Ginger Gibson, Daily Reveille columnist, was third place in extemporaneous debate and a semifinalist in impromptu debate. Fifty-nine colleges competed at the pre-national showcase tournament. LSU placed 17th. The tournament was one of the few opportunities for the team to travel and compete nationally this semester. The team’s coach, Crystal-Lane Swift, said traveling competitors need to maintain a 2.5 GPA and have the coach’s approval. Mike Applin, director of the speech and debate program, said the team’s travels are also limited by its small budget. He said the team is able to travel because of a grant given to them for the spring semester. Student Government gave the team a grant of $10,000 this semester. “Without that money, there would have been no way for us to compete nationally,” Applin said. Applin said he feels confident in competing nationally because the team members put forth so much effort. “The debate team is the academic equivalent of football,” Applin said. He said they put forth as much research and practice as football players do on the field. The team’s excellent performance in San Diego comes after its victory in Tri-State Championship in January. Cummings won first place in Louisiana in extemporaneous speaking and was a semifinalist in NPDA debate. He also won third place in Lincoln-Douglas debate. Travis L. Williams was the fifth place overall speaker and Louisiana state champion in impromptu speaking. Jessica Engler was the fourth place overall speaker as well as the Louisiana state champion in poetry and informative speaking. Jacob Gower was first place overall and Louisiana state champion in Lincoln-Douglas Debate and quarterfinalist in IPDA Varsity debate. Masey Hammons was top novice in informative speaking and sixth place in communication analysis. The tournament was held at LSU from Jan. 25 to Jan. 27. The championship tournament was held in conjunction with the Mardi Gras Classic for the second consecutive year. Teams from Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi competed for their individual state championships, according to the Mardi Gras Classic Web site. Swift said 22 schools participated in the tournament. Only college teams participated in the event, but the tournament was “open to any school who wanted to enter,” she said. Swift said schools nationwide participated in the tournament, including California State University, East Bay and Patrick Henry College in Virginia. The team will be attending three national tournaments this year. They will be competing at the University of Florida, Tennessee State University and the U.S. Air Force Academy. Applin said the state championship victory was certainly an accomplishment, considering the nationwide competition. “It was a big win for us,” Applin said. Applin said the team has won the state championship several years in a row. Cummings, political science junior, competed in three events at the tournament. He said the team’s practice and preparation led it to victory. Cummings said the team puts in so much practice because team members have so much pride in debating competitively. “It’s something that’s really important to you,” he said. Although the competition for the state championship was very intense, Cummings said he “felt prepared for it.” Applin said team members have various majors including electrical engineering, political science and business. Applin also said they come from Louisiana and various other states. One member is from Nigeria. Swift said despite its success, the team does not focus on external competition. Rather, she encourages team members to perform better than they did previously. “We’re focused more on the education side than we are on winning,” Swift said.
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