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Samford University: Debaters Earn Top Regional Honors, Advance To National Debate Tournament

Samford University debaters earned top honors at the District 6 tournament held virtually at Emory University Feb. 19-20. Two teams of d ...

(Samford University)

March 2, 2022

 Sawyer Emerson was named Varsity Debater of the Year for the district–the first Samford debater to earn the honor.

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 Grace Blackwell was named Novice of the Year.

The team of Emerson and Joey Tarnowski qualified for the NDT, as did the freshman team of T.J. Riggs and Aaron Gill. Director of Debate Ryan Galloway said the Riggs/Gill success was the first time in recent history Samford first year debaters have qualified.

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Other Samford success at the tournament included victory in the novice division for the team of Grace Scott and Abby Montgomery. Scott was named top speaker. Montgomery was named second speaker.

"This success at the district tournament sets us up for success at the national tournaments yet to come," Galloway said.


This press release was produced by the Samford University. The views expressed here are the author’s own.