WKU Forensics Team Wins Gorok Gala

Members of the WKU Forensic Team competed at the University of Webster’s Gorlock Gala. Back row, left to right: Caroline Chubb, LaShon Redey, Daniel Williams, Colin Turck, Miles Morton, Julie Mischuk, Imam Brula, Ray Fournier, Evan Grisham. Front row from left: Dennis Marin, Micah Poole, Noah Gordon, Benjamin Williams, Antonina Clementi, Andre Suwai, Tanya Prabhakar, Hannah Jones, Jaqueira Brown.

The WKU Forensics team won first place in the Lincoln Douglas Debate at the 25th Annual Go Rock Gala, hosted by Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri, January 27-29.

Twenty-seven schools from 18 states participated in the competition, making it one of the largest of the invitational season.

Senior Tanya Prabhakar of Danville, Calif. defeated top Lafayette College rival in the final four rounds of the Open Lincoln-Douglas Debate by unanimous 3-0 decision. At the other end of the bracket, Rae Fournier, her freshman from Woodbridge, Virginia, and Andre Swai, her senior from Springfield, Missouri, “locked out” as the tournament’s other top four finishers. bottom. After Prabhakar’s victory, only WKU students remained in the competition and WKU wrapped up the final round.

WKU also made the final rounds of the junior varsity and novice divisions, with Kansas City, Kansas freshman JaKayla Brown winning the final round of the novice Lincoln-Douglas Debate against McKendry University.

“The Webster College tournament is special,” said debate director Chad Meadows. “This has been an annual event for a quarter of a century and has become the premier invitational tournament for the Lincoln Douglas Debates. I was a little nervous, but the students had confidence in their abilities, so I’m glad they were up for the challenge again.”

The WKU Forensics Team took first place in the Debate Sweep Stakes, ahead of Morehouse College and Whitman College, thanks to their collective effort as a debate team. In the combined sweepstakes, WKU placed him second overall.

The team will compete in a tournament hosted by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign this weekend.

Here are the results for ‘Go Rock’:

• Lincoln Douglas Debate Speaker: Tanya Prabhakar, 4th. Miles Morton, Sherman Oaks, Calif., No. 9.
• Lincoln Douglas Debate: André Suwai, co-champion. Tanya Prabhakar, Co-Champion, Rae Fournier, Top 4. Miles Morton, Top 16.
• Junior Varsity Linnda Grass Debate: Imam Brulla of Bowling Green, Kentucky, 2nd.
• Novice Lincoln Douglas Debate: JaKayla Brown, Champion. Julie Mischke of Nicholasville, Kentucky, top four.
• Rookie Lincoln Douglas Debate Speaker: JaKayla Brown, 3rd.
• Duo Interpretation: Noah Gordon of Pittsburgh, CA and Colin Turk of Morehead, Kentucky, 2nd.
• Persuasive Speaking: Rashon Leday, Lafayette, Louisiana, No. 2.
• Poetry: Daniel Williams of Goodlettsville, Tennessee, 3rd place.
• Prose: Micah Poole, Lafayette, Louisiana, 2nd.

more: Check out or follow the WKU Forensics Facebook page @wkuforensics When @DebateWku on Twitter.

Contact: Gaynor Newman. (270) 745-6340

–WKU-

Western Kentucky University We pride ourselves on positioning our students, faculty and staff for long-term success. As a student-centered Applied research In college, WKU helps students expand their learning in the classroom by integrating teaching with real-world applications in the communities we serve.our hilltop campus Bowling Green, KentuckyRecently named by Reader’s Digest as one of America’s Greatest Towns just an hour’s drive from Nashville, Tennessee.