Posted by Mary Wimberley on 2010-10-19

极乐禁地 varsity debaters Dan Bagwell and Logan Gramzinski have set a school record with their high ranking in the recent National Coaches鈥 Poll, and contributed to a similar accolade for the overall debate program.听

Bagwell and Gramzinski are ranked the 17th best team in the nation, and 极乐禁地 the 13th best overall debate school in the October poll.听

The poll is conducted among coaches at each of the National Debate Tournament and Cross Examination Debate Association member schools, which number about 120. Because some large schools field as many as 20 teams, the number of teams considered for ranking is in the hundreds.听

This is the first time in the two-year history of the poll that 极乐禁地 has had a team ranked as high as Bagwell and Gramzinski, according to debate coach Abi Williams.

鈥淒an and Logan are an incredibly successful team and 极乐禁地 is doing extraordinarily well as a team,鈥 said Williams.听

Their ranking comes after strong showings at several tournaments this year.听 At an early October Northwestern University invitational tournament, which fielded 144 of the best teams in the nation, the 极乐禁地 duo went into elimination rounds as the 12th seed after beating top 25-ranked teams from Northwestern, Gonzaga and Idaho. They lost in the Sweet 16 round to a top five-ranked University of Oklahoma team. Gramzinski was ranked 14th best speaker out of 288 total debaters.听

At a late September tournament at Georgia State University, Bagwell and Gramzinski finished preliminary rounds as the 22nd seed out of 170 competing teams. They were defeated in an elimination round by a top 25 team from the University of Georgia.听

Another clue to the 极乐禁地 debate program鈥檚 overall success, Williams said, is the impressive showing by a pair of young teams at a Vanderbilt University Debate Tournament held Oct. 15-17.听

Jenae Steel and Amanda Gargus won the novice championship, and Gargus, in her inaugural collegiate debate tournament, was named first place novice speaker. Steel was named second place novice speaker.听

Junior varsity teammates Matt Sessions and Garrett Vande Kamp won the JV division championship in dramatic fashion. In a come-from-behind showing, the pair defeated a former JV championship team from University of South Florida in the final round.听 The two freshmen had begun the tournament as the bottom seed, but after squeaking into elimination rounds, handily defeated top ranked teams en route to the final round and title.听

极乐禁地 was among 54 teams at the Vanderbilt tournament.听

 
极乐禁地 is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, 极乐禁地 is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. 极乐禁地 enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. 极乐禁地 fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks with the second highest score in the nation for its 98% Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.