UCA Debate and Forensics competed in the State Line Swing Debate and Forensics Tournament, co-hosted by John Brown University and the University of Oklahoma on Jan. 15 to 17.
The team took third place in overall debate sweepstakes and third place in the individual event sweepstakes for the OU half of the tournament.
In debate, the team of Danielle Casey and Leia Smith were tournament champions in the Team IPDA division, while the team of Mark Matlock and Dalton Cook reached the quarterfinals. Matlock and Cook also had success in the junior varsity division of individual IPDA debate, with Matlock reaching the semifinals and being ranked 3rd best speaker and Cook reaching the semifinals and being ranked second best speaker.
In individual events, Braxton Johnson received first place in poetry interpretation and prose interpretation during the second half of the tournament, while Joanna Averill earned second place in impromptu speaking and third place in extemporaneous speaking.
The event was held at John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Arkansas.
UCA Debate and Forensics will participate in the Southern Forensics Championship on January 29-31, 2016. UCA is the two-time defending Arkansas state overall champion, and the team is hoping to make it three in a row. Later this semester, UCA will be hosting its annual End of Hi-BEAR-Nation debate tournament in mid-March.