Seawolf Debate makes strong showing at league championship tournament
by Green & Gold News |
The Seawolf Debate Program closed its season with a strong showing at their league championship tournament and, perhaps more impressively, nearly topped the list of schools competing in the league. The league, inaugurated at the outset of the pandemic, sought to offer tournaments with high-quality competition held in the online format. Over the course of four regular-season tournaments and a championship tournament, the league tracked results and rewarded the individual teams and squads for which they compete. Over 100 two-person teams representing 14 colleges and universities participated during the '22 academic year.
Over the past weekend, the Seawolf speakers welcomed debate teams from 12 universities to UAA for the league's season-ending championship tournament. The team of Birch Boyer (Senior, Mechanical Engineering) and Henry Mildon (Senior, Finance & Economics) qualified to compete in the Grand Final round where, although they didn't take top honors, put in an outstanding showing. The championship ultimately went to a team from the US Air Force Academy. Boyer & Mildon were also recognized among the top individual speakers at the tournament, with Boyer earning 9th place and Mildon earning 6th place rankings from the over 88 speakers entered.
As a squad, the Seawolf Debate Program was recognized for their excellence in the season-long rankings. Cora Lyon (Senior, Biology) and Monica Fast (Freshman, Accounting) ended the season as the 5th-ranked overall team while Boyer & Mildon were ranked 2nd out of the 108 teams that competed at league events throughout the year. As a team, the Seawolves were 2nd overall, only a few points behind the season's top-ranked squad from Regis University.
The Seawolves now turn their attention to their service agenda to close out the year. On April 23, the team will welcome middle school students from across the state to campus for the 2022 Alaska Middle School Public Debate Program Championship Tournament. Later this summer, the program will once again host the Seawolf Debate Camp for students in grades 6-10. Registration for the Aug. 8-12 camp is now open for students entering grades 6-10.
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