Dr. Scott Harris works with the debaters

Season Highlights 2002-2003

This past season was a productive one for a very young Kansas debate team. Twenty-one different debaters traveled to nineteen tournaments around the country.   While the core of the team was composed of first year college debaters the squad won twenty-two team and individual trophies at those tournaments. Eighteen of the debaters were first year college debaters.

While the squad enjoyed significant success during the season, it was at national tournaments that the team shown brightest at the end of the season.  For the thirty-fifth consecutive season KU debaters qualified for the National Debate Tournament.  It is the second longest streak in the country behind only the University of Southern California.  This year two KU teams qualified for the NDT.  The team of Matt Cormack and Lindy Simonsen and the team of Todd Jordan and Jordan Tinsley both advanced to the field of 78.    Those four students also reached the elimination rounds at the Cross Examination Debate Association National Championship tournament hosted at Arizona State University.  Matt Cormack and Lindy Simonsen also took ninth place at the Novice National Debate Tournament at Northwestern University, the national championship for first year college debaters.  Two other KU teams competed at the National Championship tournament for debaters in their first two years of college competition hosted by Johnson County Community College and placed two teams in the top five.  The team of Kevin Garner and Wade Thomas took third place in the country and the team of Greg Holmquist and Jared Zuckerman finished in fifth place.

During the course of the season sixteen different debaters reached the elimination rounds of various tournaments.   Brian Nye, Scott Stinson, Dan Dahl, Jared Zuckerman, Kyle Stearns, Lindy Simonsen, Matt Cormack, Stephanie Craig, Stephanie Kirmer, Lynn Burke,  Nick Korzeniowski, Greg Holmquist, Kevin Garner, Wade Thomas, Todd Jordan and Jordan Tinsley all qualified for elimination rounds at tournaments hosted at Universities ranging from San Diego State University in the West to Wake Forest University in the East.  In what was considered to be a rebuilding year the young hawks enjoyed a very good season.