Highlights

Campus News

Wildcat Weekly Minute for Nov. 17, 2011

A look at what's happening on campus this week.

Faith

Cleansed through the Cross

Dr. Quarles speaks on the efficacy of Christ's sacrifice at weekly chapel

Sports

LC hoops teams wrap up homestand with pair of wins

Off to Ozarks, UT-Dallas next

Organizations

LC media student give to Toys for Tots

More than 100 toys will help local charity

Campus Life

February is Heart Health Awareness Month

Stay healthy and 'God Red'

Culture

All the Shakespeare you could laugh at… and more!

tlc's adaptation of 'Shakespeare Abridged' pulls out all the stops

Special Coverage

LC brings another successful ‘Follow the Star’

'Christmas on the Hill' and 'Gala' add to festive weekend

Louisiana College Debate claws up Nationals

by Derek Latz

Wildcats save best rounds for last competition

CONWAY, Ark. - “Beware the man who has nothing to lose”. It’s an old Italian proverb, suggesting that someone who has everything to gain is a dangerous foe.

The ability to go into a match without any worries or weight on your shoulders makes that person feel invincible. Louisiana College, for one debate tournament, had that feeling.

The LC Debate Team had its best outing of the season, finishing second at the International Public Debate Association in Conway, Ark this past weekend with 12 of the 17 debaters breaking through to the finals Saturday evening.

Professional debaters Scot Loyd and Kris Lee, Varsity debaters Stephanie Baer, Jesus Carrillo, Andrew Dufour, Amanda Graves, and Lucas Moncada III, and Novice debaters James Arnold, Josh Engen, Courtney Hamilton, and Ann “Snowflake” Sawyer all made it to their respective outrounds, following eight rounds of debate that started Friday evening and went through Saturday afternoon.

“These are the best winnings and best statistics that we’ve had at a tournament since I’ve been at LC”, said Loyd, the LC team coach.

Loyd’s motivation behind winning at the Nationals may have been the reason for the numerous amount of individual wins by the debate team.

“We were already locked up to finish 5th (in the season-long standings), but we wanted to be that team that kept the other teams from getting any higher," Loyd said. "Our message to the other teams was this: ‘If you want to get here, you’ve got to go through us’, and that’s exactly what happened this weekend."

Loyd and Engen made it to the semi-finals before bowing out. Lee lost in the quarterfinals to eventual Professional winner, Adam Key of Sam Houston State, whose excitement in winning the Professional trophy was not lost on one debater who compared him to an anime character.

“Adam Key just went Super Sayian," Varsity debater Zach Veuleman said.

Key’s teammate, graduating senior Jeremy Coffman, won the Varsity in his final debate for Sam Houston State and East Texas Baptist University’s Trey Miller won the Novice portion of the Tournament.

While LC may have not had a tournament champion at Nationals, there were still plenty of awards brought home by the team members. They included:

Kris Lee: 2nd place speaker and quarter-finalist in Professional
Scot Loyd: 1st place speaker and semi-finalist in Professional
Josh Engen: Semi-finalist in Novice
Ann “Snowflake” Sawyer: Octo-finalist in Novice
Courtney Hamilton: 7th place speaker and octo-finalist in Novice
Stephanie Baer: Octo-finalist in Varsity
Amanda Graves: Double-octo finalist in Varsity
Andrew Dufour: Double-octo finalist in Varsity
James Arnold: Double-octo finalist in Novice
Jesus Carrillo: Double-octo finalist in Varsity
Lucas Moncada III: 6th place speaker and double-octo finalist in Varsity
Travis Kliewer: Double-octo finalist in Varsity
Louisiana College: 2nd place overall at Nationals, 5th place in Novice debate season, 2nd place in Professional Debate Season, and 4th place overall sweepstakes for the season.

With LC’s best year in debate now behind it, Loyd said he is looking forward to the future

“At the beginning of this year we had half our squad on novice, half on varsity," he said. "Next year, we’ll have all our squad on varsity, so we’re looking for anyone that wants to become a part of our award-winning debate team.”

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