News

July 9, 2007

ODI Entry Deadline Extended !!!!

The Oregon Debate Institute is an intensive two week camp which runs July 29th through August 12th and includes instruction on public forum theory and strategy from some of the nation’s top coaches.

The camp focuses on deep theory and issues understanding, emphasizing both the rhetorical aspects of effective public debate as well as analytical skills needed to excel. The Oregon Debate Institute offers instruction recognized on a global level and is rapidly becoming one of the more notable institutes in the country.

Individual tuition for students staying on campus is $1230. Students who do not need accomodation on campus will pay a reduced rate. Group entries may also be eligible for a discounted rate. Please contact Aaron Donaldson for details.

April 02, 2007

Truly ‘Elite’ – The debate season has ended for the ducks and what a way to go. As the nation watched the Ducks basketball team storm into the NCAA ‘elite eight’ another, more modestly sized group of duck fans was watching two students (Katherine Preston and Ben Dodds) achieve a similar feat by ending up in quarter finals (the top eight debate teams) at the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence.

The NPTE invites only the top 60 teams in the nation (out of close to 1000) to attend and the Ducks sent 4 teams, an accomplishment matched by only one other school in the country. Thanks in large part to the support the Ducks received from the ASUO Senate, all 8 duck debaters got to fly out to Wyoming for the tournament, which took place March 15-18th, one week before the NPDA Nationals tournament which is open invitation.

Preston and Dodds’ accomplishment is the biggest success story for the Ducks since 2003 when they had a team in semi-finals of the NPDA Nationals tournament. The Ducks won the NPTE in 2001.

The 2 more teams joined the NPTE crew a week later in Colorado Springs CO for the final debate event of the year. While no ducks teams advanced beyond triple octofinals, 2 teams broke and a first year team (Alex O’Dell and John Lion) lost a break round and ended the weekend 4-4. None of the Ducks’ debate teams at nationals posted a losing record.

Congrats to Dodds and Preston and all of the Ducks debaters for a great showing. The forensics season officially ends next weekend in Mankato Minnesota where Katherine Preston and Matt Rose will join Ciara Thomson at the National Individual Events Tournament. GOOD LUCK!

February 26, 2007

Into the post season: 10 Ducks look forward to nationals - The regular season is over, the results are in and for the first time in 4 years the Ducks are heading to the NPTE and this year they're going in force! Students Matt Rse and Ciara Thomson also completed their seasons and have qualified several events for the National Individual Events tournament in Mankato MN.

The NPTE, invites only the top 60 teams (out of over 900) to compete in the most intense NPDA oriented debate tournament in the country. Oregon’s top competitive team, Katherine Preston and Ben Dodds, earned a second round bid earlier this month and three more duck duo’s got notice tonight that they made the final cut. Team president Amy Bullock and her sophomore partner Rachel Bristol made the list along with Sophomores Jon McCabe and Peter Storms and UO’s most experienced debater Jenny McBride qualified with her partner Emily McLain. Only a handful of schools nation-wide qualify more than one team for the event so congrats to all the Ducks heading to WYO!

The AFA-NIET qualifier tournament ended this weekend as well and junior Matt Rose ended the weekend with two more things to do at the tournament by qualifying in Impromptu and DI which adds to his Poetry which qualified at large over the season. Team IE captain Ciara Thomson qualified her DI and Katherine Preston has qualified in Extemp. A big season for the ducks on IE and Debate fronts….GOOD LUCK AT NATIONALS!

February 14, 2007

Five Straight for Thomson – Ciara Thomson concluded the regular season with her fifth consecutive win in Dramatic Interpretation this last weekend at the OSU invitational, and she took home 3rd in poetry. The Oregon IE captain concludes a stellar regular season during which she was mentioned as a member of the NFC All Star Entry which lists the regions top competitors in platform, short prep, interp, and debate.

The Ducks brought 17 students to the ‘civil war’ tournament and saw repeated success on the individual events level as well as continued promise from their junior teams…all good signs for the Ducks as the 06-07 regular season comes to a close and a majority of the team starts looking towards the off season.
The other big hitter for Oregon individual events was junior Matt Rose. Rose cleared four events to finals, one of the largest in recent history for the team. The highlight of his weekend was taking home first place in poetry (his second consecutive win) but he also took second to Thomson in DI, giving Oregon it’s first one-two finish in IEs since the middle of last season, and third place in impromptu and prose. Returning student Alex O’Dell broke Extemp into finals where he took 6th place giving UO 8 breaks on the weekend. A strong accomplishment for what was a smaller entry for UO.

Several new comers made strong showing as the junior/novices capped off their first year at Oregon. First-year student Marcus Krieg cleared in open impromptu, taking home 4th place, and first-year students Katherine Phillipson and Joe Edgar advanced into quarter-finals of junior debate. The team’s debate results were topped by sophomore Tom Bode (coming out of a brief retirement) and first-year student Ian Rocker who landed in semi-finals of junior debate, dropping a close and disputed contest to Boise State who would go on to close out the final round.

Stay tuned as the Ducks wait for the final word on which teams will be heading to the ‘post season’. The NPTE will announce at-large bids on Feb. 22nd. Three Duck teams are looking to join Katherine Preston and Ben Dodds (ranked 37th in the nation) in Wyoming for the Ducks first trip to NPTE in 3 seasons. The last opportunity for IE’ers to punch a ticket for AFA-NIET in Mankato Minnesota comes Feb. 25th at the district qualifier.

GO DUCKS!!!

February 07, 2007

Pt. Loma Wrap Up - The Oregon Ducks sent two teams down to Pt. Loma Nazarene in San Diego CA. and after a brief, and uneventful detour into Tijauana the team had a good weekend. While Oregon's top ranked team (Sophmores Katherine Preston and Ben Dodds) did not advance into out rounds, they did end the weekend with a 4-2 record, which meant speaker points alone was all that slowed them down. Given the size of the pool, and the calibur of the weekend it was a good finish for the team that has been leading U of O's top ranked debate squad. Advancing on the weekend were seniors Jenny McBride and Emily McLain. Finishing preliminary rounds with a 4-2 record, Oregon MM dropped their first out round (double octofinals) to Western Washingtons top pair, who are currently ranked 3rd in the nation. Not a bad team to lose to after a strong showing at what many feel is a one of the strongest tournaments in the country. GREAT JOB DUCKS!

Also of note, U of O began a new local outreach program, sending co-director Aaron Donaldson and students Ben Dodds, Joe Edgar, and Alex Goodell to Mary Smith's social studies class at Roosevelt Middle School. The class had been studying debate and even having debates of their own. The Ducks went and talked to them about competitive debate and held an exhibition debate about the ethics of doctor assisted suicide. Perhaps one of those students will go on to be the next great duck debater.

January 30th, 2007

BEST IN THE NORTH WEST!!!!

For the first time since 1989 the University of Oregon has taken home a regional championship trophy! Read the article here. The Northwest Forensics Conference (NFC) consists of colleges and universities from Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Montana, Idaho, Utah and parts of northern California. Season sweepstakes are won through two routes, attending all three of the regional designated tournaments ('overall' sweepstakes) and by tallying the results from the best 2 of the three tournaments ('general' sweepstakes). After the Pacific University invitational, held this last weekend in Forest Grove, the Oregon Ducks maintained the distance they had earned earlier in the year with strong showings at the first two regional designated tournaments and beat out Lewis and Clark College (Portland Oregon) for the overall sweepstakes title.

The surprising thing was it was predominantly the younger students and the individual events that carried Oregon to victory. While the team has maintained consistent competitive success in individual (speech) events the primary emphasis for the program has rested on debate. Junior Matt Rose and Sophomore Ciara Thomson demonstrated this weekend that two individuals can make a world of difference and that the perception of Oregon as a 'debate' school is about to change.

Between the two they earned 6 breaks totaling 32 sweepstakes points. Thomson lead the point tally by winning open Dramatic Interp for the 4th consecutive tournament. Thomson took 3rd in poetry as well as a 4th place finish in Prose. She was the only Duck to receive an honorable mention for the Coaches Commemorative Award which recognizes the top overall competitor in the NFC.

Matt Rose won poetry, which qualifies his piece for the National Individual Events Tournament (NIET) in Mankato, MN and advanced in POI and Prose as well. Sophomore Katherine Preston also qualified for the NIET with a 4th place finish in Extemp. This is the first time in several years the Ducks have had so many individual events qualify 'at large' showing the region that U of O has established itself as a contender in individual events.

The debate side of the weekend looked promising as well. 4 Oregon teams advanced to out rounds. Sophomores Hailey Sheldon and Katherine Preston ended the weekend by dropping a very close 2-1 decision in octofinals of open debate, while 3 junior teams including first-year students Nick Gower and Andrew Crampton; sophomore Alex O'Dell and first-year John Lion; and winter-term newcomers Adam Ryding and Ian Baldwin advanced to octofinals as well.

The regular season wraps up over the next two weekends with tournaments in San Diego California and let us NOT forget the following "Civil War" tournament when the Ducks head up to Corvallis, OR to attempt to win the OSU invitational.

A FANTASTIC YEAR OREGON!!!

January 16th, 2007

Winter Term Kicks off a mile high - The UO debate team sent 4 teams to Denver CO, for the Mile High Swing which was a marathon of over 20 rounds in 3 long days. The tournament featured several key programs from across the nation using the increased number of rounds as a chance to make a last minute grab at a bid to the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence (NPTE) that will be held Feb. 16th-Feb 18th in Colorado Springs. Only the top 60 teams get invited to the tournament so taking every opportunity to get some wins is key and several Duck teams made great strides over the weekend.

Sophmores Katherine Preston and Ben Dodds continued to excell, clearing into elimination rounds at both halves of the swing. They advanced into octofinals in the first half of the swing and landed in doubles the second time around. Dodds recieved 11th speaker on the weekend and Preston took home 14th.

Also clearing into outrounds were Sophmores John McCabe and Peter Storms who made it to double-octofinals both halves of the swing, a strong showing for one of UOs more promising young teams. Senior Jenny McBride and junior partner Emily McLain cleared to double octofinals in the first half of the weekend.

December 04th, 2006

Three First Places, and One ticket to Nationals - The UO Ducks headed up to the free Lewis and Clark IE tournament this weekend and had an outstanding finish. Junior Ciara Thomson became the first Duck this season to punch her ticket to the National Individual Events Tournament in Mankato, Minnesota with her first place finish in Drama.

Students qualify for nationals by earning ranks that add up to less than 8 at a tournament with more than 9 schools. Thomson earned first place at UC Berkeley in California and first place at Linfield College in McMinnville. This recent rank gives her the 3rd needed 'leg' which, combined with her other ranks, adds up to 3, meaning she is headed to Minnesota in the spring. Thomson also took home a second place finish in Poetry and a third place finish in Prose. Mankato will be Thomson's second IE nationals appearance as she represented the Ducks in drama in Gainseville, Florida last season.

Sophomore standout Katherine Preston continued her consistent production in extemporaneous speaking, winning the tournament. She needs a 4 or better to qualify for nationals.

Matt Rose got closer to a nationals bid with a first place finish in Poetry and a second place finish in Program Oral Interpretation.

GREAT JOB DUCKS!

November 11th, 2006

Ducks Take Second at Linfield - The second regional designated tournament has come and gone and the Ducks continued their presence near the top of the heap. While the three open debate teams fell just short of advancing to out rounds, 3 of the 4 junior debate teams landed in quarterfinals. First year students Jamaica Jones, Alex Goodell, John Lion and sophomore Alex O'Dell fell in quarter finals while team upstarts Nick Gower and Andrew Crampton advanced to semi-finals where the fell to Carroll College who would ultimately close out the junior final round. First year student Michelle Rogelstad took home the 2nd place speaker award in novice debate.

The Ducks had a strong showing in individual events as well. Sophomore Ciara Thomson lead the team taking home first place in Dramatic Interpretation. Open Poetry saw two Ducks vying for top spots but ultimately sophomore Matt Rose took 7th and first-year Jamaica Jones took 6th. First-year Lily Olsen broke in Prose on two levels, taking 2nd in novice and 2nd in junior prose while senior Joe Edgar saw similar success in novice and junior persuasion taking 1st and 2nd place respectively. First-year student Nick Gower was edged into 2nd place in junior extemp and sophomore Katherine Preston continued her regular presence in extemp finals ranking 3rd in open division. First year student Michelle Rogelstad took home 4th place in novice impromptu.

The Ducks finished the tournament behind Carroll College, from Helena Montana who have won over 15 consecutive regional tournaments.

November 9th, 2006

Ducks take 2nd at Cal - Another weekend on the road and another weekend with the UO Ducks landing a debate team in semi-finals. The U of O Debate and Speech team headed south last weekend with 4 teams and 2 IEers to compete at the University of California - Berkeley. UC Berkeley is known nation wide for the competitive history of their debate team and their tournament drew quite a crowd as a result. The top Oregon finish this week went to team President and Junior Amy Bullock and Sophmore Rachel Bristol. Oregon BB went 4-3 in prelims then steamed through Double Octo-Finals, Octo-Finals, and Quarter Finals until finally dropping to the University of Washington on a tight 2-1 decision in Semi-Finals, one round shy of the final round. Senior team Jenny McBride and Emily McLain had a strong showing as well, winning their Double Octo-Final round after going 4-3 in preliminary competition. They lost in Octo Finals. Ben Dodds and Katherine Preston continued to impress with a 5-2 prelim record but they fell in Double Octo-Finals. Last, team new comers Nick Gower and Andrew Crampton showed that their hard work is paying off. The two first year students didn't advance but had the opportunity to do so, losing their 7th round to finish the weekend 3-4. A 4-3 record would have secured them a spot in outrounds, which would have been a startling accomplishment for a first year team at a tournament with no novice or junior divisions.

The IE front went well for the Ducks, showing everyone that U of O can run with the pack in speech events also. Matt Rose snagged the first place spot in Program Oral Interp and a 4th place finish in Impromptu. Ciara Thomson (team IE captain) had an incredibly strong weekend taking 1st in Dramatic Interpretation, 2nd in Poetry, and 3rd in Prose.

The Ducks finished the weekend at 2nd place overall, ahead of the tournament host Golden Bears but well behind the Univeristy of Pacific.

They drive up to McMinnville for the 2nd Regional Designated Tournament of the season, the final event of the Fall Term.

November 1st, 2006

Divide and Conquer - The Ducks hit the road, going two separate directions last weekend and saw success on every level. 2 debate teams headed north to Tacoma Washington to participate in the University of Puget Sound Invitational and both teams made an impact. The weekend was lead by Junior Ben Dodds and Sophomore Katherine Preston who went into out rounds as the 5th seed of the tournament with a record of 4-2. They defeated UPS in octo-finals and Whitman in quarterfinals, both on 3-0 decisions before Lewis and Clark beat them on a 2-1 decision in semi-finals. Ben Dodds impressed everyone by snagging the top speaker award for the tournament, which featured several prominent debate programs. Preston was third speaker for the weekend. Former policy debaters Hailey Sheldon and Michael Belcher continued to do well after their strong showing at the Claremont Colleges earlier in the year. They went 4-2 in preliminary competition before dropping in Octo-finals to UC Berkeley.

The second theatre of action was in the snow-blown city of Colorado Springs CO. where 3 Duck teams headed to take on this years Nationals hosts, the Colorado College. Because they are hosting nationals, many feel that this tournament was especially competitive, making the Ducks results that much more exciting. Sophomores John McCabe and Peter Storms lead the assault going 5-1 in preliminary rounds before falling in double octo-finals on a 3-0 decision. Two teams went 3-3 including Sophomore Rachel Bristol and Junior Amy Bullock who missed breaking on speaker points alone. Seniors Jenny McBride and Emily McLain made it to out rounds but dropped in double octo-finals on a 2-1. McLain continued her tradition of excellence in both IE's and debate by taking fourth overall in extemporaneous speaking.

The team travels to UC Berkeley this weekend.

October 17th, 2006

Ducks Start in 2nd Place - The Ducks are back from Lewis and Clark and have started the season at second place behind Boise State. The team broke just under half of their debate entry (5 out of 11) into out rounds and 15 IE slots making this the strongest single showing UO has had in some time. Leading the charge was Junior Ben Dodds and Sophmore Katherine Preston who rolled through Friday and Saturday's rounds with a 5-1 record earning them the 6th seed in the open division. Seniors Jenny McBride and Emily McLain also advanced on a 4-2 and McLain took home the second speaker award at a tournament featuring many teams expected to be in deep out rounds at nationals. Ben Dodds secured the 8th speaker position resulting in 2 Ducks in the top 10 on the weekend. While both open teams dropped in Octofinals, this is a strong showing for the young team.

In Junior division, first-year students Andrew Crampton and Nick Gower swept preliminary competition with a 6-0 record but then dropped in quarter finals. First-year team Alex Goodell and Jamaica Jones also visited quarter finals on a 5-2 record from prelims but then fell to a hybrid team from U. Portland and Mt. Hood CC. Representing UO in novice division, senior Joe Edgar and first year Katherine Philipson broke out of prelims and octos to finish the weekend in quarter finals at their first career debate tournament.

Overall the U of O gatherd a 41-26 ballot count for the weekend, posting a 61% win ratio. This represents a strong increase over the solid performance at the Claremont Colleges a few weeks prior.

The Ducks finished strong in individual events as well. Among the 15 final showings for the Ducks several speakers rose to the top. Senior Emily McLain took 2nd in open Impromptu and senior Ciara Thomson took second in open Prose. First-year student Nick Gower was on fire, taking first place in both novice extemp and novice impromptu. First-year student Jamaica Jones took her novice poetry to finals and won 3rd place despite the fact that many people at the tournament thought she should have taken home the 1. Joe Edgar, a senior, got to finals in novice persuasion and took home 3rd place.

 

October 9th, 2006

Going to Eleven - Thursday is the day the Ducks hit the road for the first full-squad event of the season and they're going to be moving by the droves. Count them, ELEVEN debate teams have been registered for the Lewis and Clark invitational in Portland, Oregon making this the largest UO showing in recent years. Lewis and Clark is the first regional designated tournament of the year as well, serving to heighten the intensity of competition. Check back next week for results and best of luck DUCKS!

 

September 29th, 2006

A Fast Start - The Ducks kicked off the season with a strong showing at the Claremont Colleges invitational in Claremont California. Despite the fact that school hasn't even started for U of O, the forensics team finished with a winning record going 25 - 21 (total ballot count) for the weekend. That's remarkable not as a strong statistical success rate (it's not) but because it was the first parliamentary tournament for ex-policy debaters Michael Belcher and Hailey Sheldon (who went 5-3 and missed breaking on speaker points), and for first year student Lilly Olsen who, along with sophmore partner Katherine Preston, went 4-4. Sophmore team Jon McCabe and Peter Storms lead the webfoot's assault notching a 5-3 prelim total, defeating Western Washington (who incidentally were the Claremont Round Robin Champs 2 days before) 3-0 in Octofinals. MS dropped in Quarters to Point Loma Nazarene in a round that left severl Ducks scratching their heads. Other ducks in attendance included team President Amy Bullock and sophmore partner Rachel Bristol who finished the weekend 4-4 after a fast 4-1 start on the first day. Seniors Jenny McBride and Emily McLain were also knocking on the door after stumbling out the gate. They had several close rounds that could have bounced either way and overall, ballots were strong for the duo despite missing outrounds. The team also held it's first day of class Monday, September 25th and was delighted to see a packed house. Over 30 UO students showed up demonstrating a continually growing interest in collegiate forensics at U of O. The Ducks travel again in a few weeks when they head north to Lewis and Clark College in Portland Oregon to defend their status as the 2nd place team in the Pacific Northwest. L&C marks the first regional designated tournament that decides regional rankings.. The Ducks, with strong upper ranks and a swathe of new students have strong potential for the tournament.

 

September 21st, 2006

Once More Into the Breach, Dear Friends.... Well the leaves are falling, the rain has arrived and that means one thing...the new season is close at hand. The Ducks forensics team headed to the coast for a few days of fun on the beach to kick off the new season and welcome 6 new folks to the fold. As of tomorrow the festivities begin as U of O flies south to the Claremont Colleges Invitational and the sparks are going to fly. 5 teams pulled together before school has even started to ensure their spot on the roster making it one of the largest opening weekend entries the Ducks have fielded in the last few years. Team President Amy Bullock and partner Rachel Bristol will join team parli captain Emily McLain and her partner, and 5th year senior, Jenny McBride, sophmores Jon McCabe and Peter Storms, policy transfers Hailey Sheldon and Michael Belcher and extemp captain Katherine Preston whose partner, first year student Lilly Olsen, will be making her Ducks debut. The team will return just in time for class on Monday to meet the rest of the new Ducks class and to gear up for the first NFC designated tournament, and first full squad meet, to be held at Lewis and Clark College on October 13th. BEST OF LUCK IN CALIFORNIA DUCKS!!

April 6th, 2006

A Fine Season: Hats off to the Ducks debate and speech team for concluding a fantastic season. The competitive season ended this last weekend with several students competing among the nation's finest in Dallas, TX and Gainseville, FL. Jeannette Schaller and Israel Pastrana finished on the verge of advancing into out rounds at CEDA Nationals in Dallas after dropping an incredibly close round 8. The team ended their tournament run at 4-4 after a fast 3-1 start on the first day of competition.Brad Krupicka, Emily McLain, Brett Shanely, and Ciara Thomson capped their seasons at the American Forensics Associate National Individual Events Tournament (AFA-NIET). Though no Ducks advanced the team had a strong showing with 5 entries for the weekend, the most entries the team has traveled in several years. Schaller, Krupicka, and Shanely are all seniors and will be moving on the bigger and better things next season. Krupicka and Schaller have competed regularly for the team for four solid years, a feat rarely met given the significant demands of collegiate forensics and college accademics. They will be missed dearly by the team though we know they will thrive wherever they end up in the future. THANKS FOR EVERYTHING SENIORS!!

March 28th, 2006

NPDA Concludes Debate Season: The Ducks Parli squad ended their season with a fantastic showing at the 2006 National Parliamentary Debate Association Nationals Tournament in Corvallis, OR. The team had 2 teams advance into out rounds, Senior Teva Sheffler and Sophmore Adam Lorts dropped in Quad-Octo Finals (top 128 out of 300) and Junior Emily McLain and First Year Katherine Preston finished a round later in Tripple Octo Finals, losing to the team that would ultimately win the championship. Equally exciting were the 3 first year teams who ended the weekend 4-4. First year students Jon McCabe, Peter Storms, Rachel Bristol, Matt Rose, Tom Bode, and Julien Michels all were one win away from advancing into out rounds their first trip to nationals, an achievement that takes many students years to accomplish. CONGRATS on a great weekend!

March 20th, 2006

UO Hosts Nationals! The University of Oregon played host this last weekend to the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence (NPTE) which pits the nation's top 60 teams against each other in search of a national title. The tournament was won by the University of Puget Sound's team of Rachel Safrin and Josh Anderson. UPS defeated Loyloa Marymount - Mumper and Contreras in a final that pitted the 1 and 2 seeds respectively. For more info on the tournament and it's participants check out the NPTE website (see link under hosted events).Thanks so much to the competitors, coaches, and judges that made this such a great weekend and congrats to all the participants!

March 8th, 2006

Congrats! The UO Debate and Speech team have new leadership! Amy Bullock -a sophmore from Salt Lake City, Utah -was elected as the first team president in recent history. She will take over the student leadership position for the '06-'07 season. Joining Bullock are junior Israel Pastrana (V.P. Policy), junior Emily McLain (V.P. Parli), and first year students Katherine Preston (V.P. Extemp), and Ciara Thompson (V.P. Interp).A heartfelt thanks to our outgoing officers Jeannette Schaller (V.P. Policy), Jason Lear (V.P. IE's), and Brad Krupicka (V.P. Parli) for a great year!

February 27th, 2006

Three more ducks are heading to Gainesville Florida for the 2006 American Forensics Association National Individual Events Tournament (AFA-NIET) in April. Emily Mclain, Ciara Thompson, and Brett Shanely all secured spots in Extemp, DI, and ADS respectively at the NFC Regional Qualifier tournament. They'll be joining Brad Krupicka who qualified Extemp at large and Impromptu at the qualifier making this the largest entry the Ducks have taken to the tournament in over 3 years. GOOD LUCK DUCKS!

February 7th, 2006

Brad Krupicka and Katherine Preston lead the Ducks' assault at the Point Loma Nazarene Sunset Cliffs Classic in San Diego, CA this last weekend. Krupicka ranked 4th in Extemp and first year student Katherine Preston was a semi-finalist in impromptu at what many feel to be a nationals warm-up tournament. Krupicka and partner Amy Bullock nearly broke despite a round one forfeit due to an admissions error, ending the weekend 4-2 and missing the elimination rounds only on speaker points. Nice Job DUCKS!

January 31st, 2006

CONGRATS!!

The Oregon policy team finished a great weekend at the Berkeley tournament with Hailey Sheldon and team new-comer Nicholas Ligett finishing first in Junior Policy Debate! The two new students took 2nd and 8th place speaking awards respecitvely. This accomplishment marks the second consecutive year that Oregon Policy has landed a young team in the final round of junior debate at the Berkeley tournament.

DUCKS TAKE 2ND IN THE PAC NW!! Way to go UO! The Ducks moved up from last season, snagging 2nd place in the Northwest Forensics Conference, an improvement from last year when the team finished 3rd. The season culminated at Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA where the team had an outstanding weekend. Oregon advanced 17 entries into outrounds including a 2nd place finish by Rachel Bristol and Matt Rose in Junior debate. Bristol also placed 2nd in novice Impromptu and 3rd in novice Extemp. Other top 3 finishes include Ciara Thomson who took 2nd in Poetry, and the teams senior captain of parli debate Brad Krupicka punched his ticket to AFA-NIET with a third place finish in Open Extemp. Junior Julien Michels was the top speaker in Novice debate.

January 23rd, 2006

Check out the stories on the Worlds team! Inside Oregon, Oregon Daily Emerald.

 

January 18th, 2006

Congrats! The Ducks competed at the GSL tournament in Salt Lake City; Katherine Preston and Emily McLain finished in octofinals of open debate. McLain also finished third in impromptu along with Brad Krupicka who finished fifth.

January 4th, 2006

Congratulations to the University of Oregon and its star team, Aaron Donaldson and Jason Lear for reaching semi-finals at the World Universities Debate Championship tournament in Dublin, Ireland!The team went on to outperform top teams from Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Princeton, Trinity College and others durings its first trip to the WUDC, marking the first time a public university in America has reached elimination rounds, let alone place among the top eight teams in the world.