WKU News

Members of the WKU Forensics Team include (back row, from left) Miles Morton, Antonina Clementi, Andre Swai, Imamulhaq Brula; (front row, from left) Tanya Prabhakar, Madelynn Einhorn, Tess Welch, Avery Lenihan.

The WKU Forensics Team captured the championship in all divisions at the 4th Annual NFA-LD Grand Prix hosted virtually by The Spicer Debate Forum of Missouri State University on March 12-13.

The tournament is one of the season’s most challenging as it features a unique double-elimination procedure that leads to more debates than a normal tournament. After 12 rounds and nearly 30 hours of competition, WKU accomplished two program firsts by closing out the varsity division finishing as the top 3 and by sweeping the other two divisions taking first in junior-varsity and novice. The team also won six speaker awards including the top 3 in the varsity division.

Director of Debate Chad Meadows said: “This tournament is a vital test for our program to determine if we’ve developed the mental toughness to sustain the rigor of the national tournament in April.  Our students passed that test and have a better idea of where we need to improve in the next month.”

At the 2022 Grand Prix, WKU competed against Florida State University, Pennsylvania State University, Lafayette College, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, among others. WKU will face these programs and more at the National Forensics Association Lincoln-Douglas Debate national tournament hosted by Illinois State University.

This weekend the team begins its final preparations for the upcoming national tournaments.

Results from the 2022 Grand Prix are as follows:

• Open Lincoln-Douglas Debate: Madelynn Einhorn of Dayton, Ohio, Co-Champion; Tess Welch of Houston, Texas, Co-Champion; Andre Swai of Springfield, Missouri, Co-Champion; Miles Morton of Sherman Oaks, California, 9th.
• Junior Varsity Lincoln-Douglas Debate: Antonina Clementi of Lafayette, Louisiana, Champion.
• Novice Lincoln-Douglas Debate: Imam Brula of Bowling Green, Kentucky, Top Novice.
• Lincoln-Douglas Debate Speaker: Madelynn Einhorn, 1st; Tess Welch, 2nd; Andre Swai, 3rd; Miles Morton, 9th.
• Junior Varsity Lincoln-Douglas Debate Speaker: Antonina Clementi, 2nd.
• Novice Lincoln-Douglas Debate Speaker: Imam Brula, Top Novice.

More: Check out the WKU Forensics Facebook page or follow @wkuforensics  and @DebateWku on Twitter.

Contact: Ganer Newman, (270) 745-6340.

-- WKU –

Western Kentucky University prides itself on positioning its students, faculty and staff for long term success. As a student-centered, applied research university, WKU helps students expand on classroom learning by integrating education with real-world applications in the communities we serve. Our hilltop campus is located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which was recently named by Reader’s Digest as one of the nicest towns in America, just an hour’s drive from Nashville, Tennessee.