KU Debate competes in 3 tournaments to kick off spring 2023


LAWRENCE — The KU debate team kicked off spring 2023 with successful performances at three different tournaments over the weekend. The team of Mickey McMahon, a senior from Leawood, and Michael Scott, a senior from Glenview, Illinois, took third place at an exclusive round robin for the top seven teams in the country hosted by Dartmouth College. The team of Jimin Park, senior from Topeka, and Jet Semrick, senior from Prairie Village, took second place at an invitational for 12 of the top 20 teams in the country held at Rutgers University.

This was the first time KU has fielded teams at three tournaments in one weekend.

Meanwhile, several other KU teams competed at a tournament at Indiana University, and the teams of Jiyoon Park, a freshman from Topeka, and John Marshall, a freshman from Lawrence, as well as Ethan Harris, a sophomore from Lawrence, and Will Soper, a junior from Bucyrus, tied for fifth place at the tournament. All four Jayhawks won high individual speaker awards.

KU debaters Mickey McMahon, Michael Scott and Coach Ned Gridley at Dartmouth, January 2023.

The Dartmouth Round Robin invitational tournament included the KU pair of McMahon and Scott along with teams from Dartmouth, Emory University, Georgetown University, the University of Michigan, the University of Texas and Wake Forest University. The KU duo notched wins over Georgetown, Texas and Wake Forest while losing to Dartmouth, Emory and Michigan to finish with a 3-3 record in the round robin. They finished as the third-place team at the tournament behind Michigan and Emory.

KU debaters Jet Semrick and Jimin Park with coach Alaina Walberg at the University of Rutgers invitational, January 2023.

The University of Rutgers hosted an invitational tournament that included KU’s Jimin Park and Semrick along with teams from Binghamton, Dartmouth, Emory, Georgetown, Iowa, Long Beach, Massachusetts-Amherst, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern and Wake Forest. The KU pair won debates over Binghamton, Dartmouth, Michigan and Iowa and advanced to the championship debate before losing to Wake Forest to finish in second place at the tournament.

KU Debate team members at Indiana University tournament, January 2023.

Eight other KU teams spent the weekend competing at a major tournament hosted by the University of Indiana. Six KU students won individual speaker awards at the tournament. In the varsity division, Marshall and Jiyoon Park were second, Harris was seventh, and Soper was 18th. In the junior varsity division, Averi Harker, a freshman from Olathe, was the top speaker, and Rita Pham, a freshman from Lee’s Summit, Missouri, was the third speaker. The teams of Marshall and Jiyoon Park and Harris and Soper both advanced to the quarterfinals at the tournament and finished in a tie for fifth place. The team of Jacob Wilkus, a sophomore from Lawrence, and Sabrina Yang, a freshman from Overland Park, reached the octafinals of the tournament and finished in ninth place. The team of Alex Barreto, a sophomore from Oklahoma City, and Jared Spiers, a sophomore from Pittsburg, reached the single elimination rounds and finished as the 17th-place team. The team of Harker and Pham finished as the fifth-place team in junior varsity. Three other KU teams competed in the varsity division: Brock Hines, a sophomore from Lindale, Texas, with Luke Vu, a freshman from Hookset, New Hampshire; Isaac Martinez, a freshman from Spearman, Texas, with Luna Schultz, a freshman from Houston; and Sean McConnell, a freshman from Topeka, with Zach Willingham, a freshman from Topeka. They distinguished themselves by finishing with 3-3 records at the tournament.

 “We are incredibly proud of the hard work of the students and coaching staff that allowed us to compete at a high level in multiple locations on a single weekend,” said Brett Bricker, KU associate director of debate.

KU teams will compete next at a tournament at the University of Texas Feb. 3-6.

Top right photo: KU debaters Mickey McMahon, Michael Scott and Coach Ned Gidley (center) at Dartmouth, January 2023.
Middle right photo: KU debaters Jet Semrick and Jimin Park with coach Alaina Walberg (center) at the University of Rutgers invitational, January 2023.
Bottom right photo: KU Debate team members at Indiana University tournament, January 2023.

Thu, 01/26/2023

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Scott Harris

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Scott Harris

KU Debate and Department of Communication Studies

785-864-9878