Big Wins At Ithaca For UR Debate!

This past weekend the URDU traveled to Ithaca College to attend the Sydney Landon Invitational Debate Tournament. We left on Sunday with major success in each division of both formats, British Parliamentary and Policy. This tournament also hosted the Novice National championship in BP, offering a chance for first-year debaters to show off their skills.

The University of Rochester Debate Union at the Sydney Landon Invitational at Ithaca College

One of those to show off was Ben Frazer, a first year student who won the Margaret Hildebrand top novice speaker award in BP – out of 82 debaters. His partner Graeme also placed 4^th speaker in novice, and they finished the tournament as finalists, among the top novice BP debaters in the country.

Ben Frazer wins the Margaret Hildebrand top novice speaker award in BP, out of 82 other debaters in the division!

We also had major success in Policy novice: Bethany Gardner and Sarah Pisaniello finished as finalists in that division, and Bethany was ranked 5^th speaker.

Left: Coach Alex Martel helps Bethany Gardner and Sarah Pisaniello prepare for their final round in the novice policy division. Right: Junior Ndlovu ranks 4^th in the varsity division of BP, out of 48 other debaters.

Our varsity debaters had a great tournament too – Junior Ndlovu ranked 4^th speaker out of 48 other speakers! Teams Syed Reefat Aziz and Miriam Kohn, and Sarah Hofmann and Katelyn Offerdahl, also both finished as semifinalists. Nick Heitsch and Anne Cheng also finished as varsity quarterfinalists in Policy.

From left: Katelyn Offerdahl, Sarah Hofmann, Syed Reefat Aziz, and Miriam Kohn, showing off their Semifinalist awards

We returned to Rochester on Sunday night to prepare for the Northeast Regionals Hat City Debates at Western Connecticut State University – wish these Yellowjackets luck as we fight for regional glory!