NEWS FROM CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, BAKERSFIELD
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DEC. 8, 2000
CONTACT: Mike Stepanovich, 661/664-2456, mstepanovich@csub.edu
CSUB debate team ranks 15th nationally
California State University, Bakersfield's debate team is ranked 15th out of 128 colleges and universities in the United States as of the Nov. 15 national rankings released by the National Debate Tournament, the national policy debate organization.
CSUB Debate is ranked above many traditional debate powerhouses, including Northwestern University, Dartmouth College, The University of Iowa and Harvard University. Omar G. Guevara, CSUB's director of forensics, said that "CSUB continues to define policy debate excellence on the West Coast and is making its mark nationally."
The next national rankings will be released Jan. 15, 2001. The top 20 teams nationally are as follows:
1. Wake Forest University
2. Catholic University
3. University of Southern California
4. University of California, Berkeley
5. Emory University
6. Kansas State University
7. Gonzaga University
8. John Carroll University
9. University of Missouri, Kansas City
10. Liberty University
11. U.S. Naval Academy
12. University of Texas, Austin
13. Miami University of Ohio
14. University of North Texas
15. CSU Bakersfield
16. University of Kansas
17. (Tie) CSU Chico & George Washington University
19. (Tie) Northwestern University & Southwest Missouri State University
CSUB Debate's recent performance at Arizona State University's "Forensic Fiesta" Dec. 1-4 showcased CSUB's policy debate expertise. CSUB debaters Jeremy Peterson and David Wells were ranked as the top team at the tournament following the preliminary debates, Sydney Howard and Veronica Macias-Lucero were ranked fourth, and William Mord was tied for fifth.
The top four teams advanced to the semi-finals. Both CSUB teams in the semi-finals finished third at the tournament, losing heartbreakingly close rounds to teams from Pepperdine and CSU Fullerton.
Four of CSUB's debaters also finished in the top 10 individual speaker rankings: Jeremy Peterson, first; David Wells, second, Sydney Howard, seventh, and William Mord, 10th.
CSUB Debate is not taking much of a holiday break as teams are now preparing for two tournaments scheduled over New Year's: USC (December 28-31), and CSU Fullerton (Jan. 1-4, 2001).
For more information about CSUB Debate please call Guevara at 661/664-2206.
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