This past weekend, Samford Debate competed at the George Ziegelmueller tournament hosted by Wayne State University. The novice team of Kate Alexander and Lexi Bush won the tournament and earned first and second speaker, respectively. This is Samford’s second tournament win of the season.
The varsity team experienced success, winning numerous indiviual speaker awards. Senior TJ Riggs won third speaker overall. Sophomore Laurel Pack won 14th speaker and senior Aaron Gill won 15th speaker.
Seniors Grace Scott and Mary Grace Hammond defeated Wayne State and Baylor. Gill and senior Abigail Montgomery defeated California State University, Long Beach and Baylor University, while Riggs and Pack defeated the University of Texas at Dallas and CSU Long Beach.
The team will now shift its focus to hosting the Birmingham Area Debate League on Tuesday, Oct. 22, a free debate circuit created to expand access to debate in the greater Birmingham area.