ISSUED: 2 November 2017
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Shepherd University’s Debate and Forensics Team took third place in Team Sweepstakes in the 9th Annual Chief Justice Invitational Speech and Debate Tournament in Memoriam of Danny Ray at Marshall University held October 28-29. Four of Shepherd’s debate team members were among the 230 competitors from 15 schools from across the country competing in the tournament.
“We are extremely proud to report that as a result of this past weekend, all four of our students are eligible to compete in two year-end national tournaments sponsored by the National Forensics Association and Pi Kappa Delta,” said Dr. Joseph Robbins, debate and forensics team advisor.
Debate and forensics tournaments give students the opportunity to participate in a variety of event categories, including prose, poetry, and dramatic interpretation; informative, persuasive, after dinner, extemporaneous, and impromptu speaking; and Lincoln-Douglas and parliamentary debate.
In the category of Extemporaneous Speaking, Sam Brown, a political science major from Martinsburg, took third place; and Casey Feezle, a political science major from Augusta, took fourth place. Brown also won fourth in Rhetorical Criticism. Lauren Duckworth, a psychology major from Kingwood, came in sixth in Poetry Interpretation. Duckworth and Georgia Musselwhite, a communications major from Shepherdstown, took third place in Dramatic Duo Interpretation, and Feezle and Brown took sixth place in Improvisational Duo.
Shepherd’s team also won second place in Team Sweepstakes at the Collegiate Forensics Association’s (CFA) Morgan State, Randolph-Macon Invitational tournament October 20-21. Members of the team also did well in several of the individual categories.
Sam Brown took first place in Lincoln-Douglas Debate, fifth place in Parliamentary Debate, fourth place in Parliamentary Debate Speaker, first place in Extemporaneous Speaking, first place in Pentathlon (competing in more than five events), second place in Impromptu, and third place in Communication Analysis; Casey Feezle took fourth place in Lincoln-Douglas Debate, fifth place in Parliamentary Debate, second place in Informative, second place in Persuasive, fifth place in Impromptu, and fourth place in After-dinner Speaking; Georgia Musselwhite won first place in Poetry, and first place in Dramatic Duo; Lauren Duckworth took third place in Poetry, and first place in Dramatic Duo; Madison Ronevich, a political science major from Martinsburg, won sixth place in Lincoln-Douglas Debate; and Spencer VanHoose, a political science major from Martinsburg, took fifth place in Informative.
Other members of the debate and forensics team who competed in the Morgan State, Randolph-Macon Invitational were Jordan Jalil, economics and accounting, Kabletown; Spencer VanHoose, political science, Martinsburg; Katie Zakrzewski, political science, Berkeley Springs; Josh Smart, political science, Augusta; Molly Lovern, chemistry, Bluefield; Carleigh West, global studies, Moundsville; Imen Bouhestine, global studies, Tunisia; and Adnan Haider, political science, Pakistan. Other members of Shepherd’s debate team are Mikayla Duhaime, political science, Saratoga Springs, New York; and Jenn Dickey, business, Mount Airy, Maryland.
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