First in nation

Two members of the University debate team are ranked the No. 1 parliamentary team in the nation by the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence.

Seniors Alex Warren, economics major, and Travis Smith, speech communication major are currently the top parliamentary debate team in America.

<p><strong>Smith and Warren are ranked first in the nation for Parliamentary debate.</strong>

“I have high expectations for Alex and Travis,” Dr. Charles “Chuck” Walts, debate coach and assistant professor of speech communications, said. “I believe they are two of the best debaters in the nation, and when they are firing on all cylinders, they can beat anyone.”

Warren and Smith have already won 38 debate rounds this season.

“Over the past three years, we have been trying to create positive expectations,” Smith said. “Now we have to meet those expectations. It’s a good problem to have.”

The debaters spend anywhere from 10 to 25 hours per week preparing. That doesn’t include the time spent travelling and actually debating at tournaments.

The team usually leaves on Thursdays and returns on Mondays, spending their weekends debating at other universities around the nation.

University debate team members (from left) Travis Smith, Alex Warren, coach Dr. Charles Walts, Addison Gribbin and Dallas Flick, practice and review research on Nov. 3.

“All the hard work has paid off,” Warren said. “We have finally proven we are competitive. We have made a name for ourselves.”

The other half of the University debate team is Sophomore Addison Gribbin, English major, and freshman Dallas Flick, communications major. They are currently ranked 33 by NPTE.

“Addison and Dallas are progressing quickly,” Walts said. “There is typically a large talent increase from a debater’s first and second year. Addison is right where she should be and Dallas, being a freshman, is catching up fast.”

Walts said debate is like a sport in that it is a linear progression. He said most people don’t fully mature as debaters until they are seniors, but he expects Gribbin and Flick to receive an invitation to compete at the national tournament.

“Addison and Dallas have the talent to be in the top 25, so as the competitive season moves along I expect them to keep pace,” Walts said.

The national parliamentary debate tournaments, National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence and the National Parliamentary Debate Association Championship Tournament, are scheduled for March 15-26.

“We want to win nationals,” Warren said. “That’s what you aim for every year, but it is more realistic this year considering where we are sitting.”

The next tournament the team plans to compete at is Nov. 11 at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. Walts said it is one of the toughest tournaments because schools usually only take their best teams.

“It’s incredibly dense,” Warren said. “Every round you’re facing a good team.”

Warren said the season has been more competitive than they expected.

“There are definitely a lot of good teams,” he said. “We’ve been surprised by teams we didn’t expect to be at the caliber they are competing at this year.”

To prepare for their opponents, the teams do extensive research, participate in practice debate rounds and do speed drills, which involve reading aloud quickly and clearly to improve enunciation.

In addition to their usual preparatory activities, the team started filming their debate rounds this season.

“We watch the videos like a sports team,” Warren said. “You don’t notice what you’re doing in the round, and Chuck can’t watch every round. It allowed us to make improvements a lot more quickly.”

Smith said they have committed a lot of time this year to progressing and videos have helped.

“We are probably more conscious of how to make better arguments during rounds,” Smith said. “We have bridged the gap where we weren’t viewing the debate round properly.”

Despite the immense time spent on debate, Warren and Smith said it hasn’t negatively affected their classes.

“Our professors have been very supportive of adapting to our needs,” Warren said.

NPTE results include 19 tournaments and ranks 318 teams.