SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE'S DEBATE TEAM AMONG TOP 25

The Debate Team at Southeast Missouri State University has been ranked among the top 25 in the nation, according to Kimo Ah Yun, Southeast director of debate.

"Being in the top 50 is quite an honor, since over 350 schools compete in the type of debate we do," Ah Yun said. "The first ranking, which came out last week, ranked Southeast as one of the top 25 teams in the nation. We were ranked ahead of prestigious schools such as Stanford, Berkeley, UCLA, Michigan, the University of Washington and Cornell."

Southeast participates in the Cross Examination Debate Association's debate which, currently, is the largest debate activity in the nation.

Highlight of the Southeast season thus far, came Oct. 23-25 in Springfield, Mo., at the Virginia Craig Invitational. There, Southeast won seven of nine awards given in the novice division. Fifty-four debate teams and 37 schools from Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Louisiana, Illinois, North Dakota and Nebraska attended the event.

Five "speaker awards" were given in the novice division, and Southeast won four of them, Ah Yun said. Southeast students winning those awards were: Bob Sanders, first place; Kim Sides, second place; Melinda Lohmann, fourth place; and Nathan Cooper, fifth place.

Southeast also won three team awards at the competition. The team of Sides and Lohmann won first place. The split team of Nathan Johnston of Southeast and Kacy Wright of Missouri Southern won second place. The team of Sanders and Cooper won third place.

Earlier in the season, Southeast took home five awards at the University of Missouri-St. Louis Gateway Classic Invitational Oct. 9-11.

Individual awards went to Sides, first place speaker; Sanders, fifth place speaker; and Lohmann, seventh place speaker. The team of Sides and Lohmann won third place honors, and the team of Sanders and Lynn Bartnett took fourth place.

In addition, Southeast won five awards Oct. 2-4 at the Middle Tennessee State University "Blue Raider Classic Invitational."

Individual awards went to Sides, seventh place speaker, and Sanders, ninth place speaker. In the team competition, the duo of Johnston and Scot Chapmann won seventh place, and the two teams of Sides and Lohmann, and Sanders and Jae Nugent, tied for fifth place.