Whitman Debate Duo Wins Prestigious Dartmouth Round Robin

WALLA WALLA, Wash. - Are Whitman College seniors Charles Olney and Thad Blank the top policy debaters in the country?

Possibly so. Olney and Blank staked their claim to the No. 1 spot by winning last weekend's prestigious Dartmouth College Round Robin Tournament in Hanover, N.H.

Thad Blank (left) and Charles Olney, ranked fifth nationally last year, have set their sights higher this spring.

"At this point in the collegiate season, the question of which team is No. 1 is very subjective," Whitman debate coach Jim Hanson said. "After winning the Dartmouth tournament, however, we can make a legitimate argument in favor of Charles and Thad."

Participation in Dartmouth's 47th annual tournament was limited by invitation to the top nine policy debate teams in the country. Olney and Blank finished the round-robin format with a 6-2 won-loss record. Josh Lynn and Scott Phillips, representing Emory University, also compiled a 6-2 record. Olney and Blank claimed the first-place trophy because they amassed 455.5 speaker points, one more point than their Emory counterparts.

Olney, a politics major from Oak Harbor, Wash., also captured "first speaker" honors with 172.5 speaker points, one more than the runner-up, Andrew Leong of Dartmouth. Judges in each debate award each participant anywhere from one to 30 points, based on their individual performance and contribution. Blank, a politics major from Boise, Idaho, won first speaker honors at a tournament early in the season.

Other teams in the Round Robin came from Northwestern University, University of California-Berkeley, Wake Forest University, Michigan State University, University of Michigan, and the University of Georgia. With an enrollment of 1,350 undergraduates, Whitman was the smallest school and the only liberal arts & sciences college represented at the tournament.

"Whitman has had a great deal of success in speech and debate, but this victory at Dartmouth represents a new plateau of success," Hanson said. "This is one of the tournaments everyone wants to win."

Olney and Blank, who placed fifth at last year's National Debate Tournament (NDT), will compete in four major tournaments over the next several weeks. Next up, in early February, is the annual Northwestern University Invitational, the premier spring event prior to the national championships. Olney and Blank finished second at Northwestern last year.

In early March, Whitman's top team will attempt to win its third consecutive Northwest Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) Championships title. Olney and Blank have won 36 consecutive debates in tournaments held in the states of Washington and Oregon.

The CEDA National Championships are set for later in March. Olney and Blank placed third in that tournament last spring. This year's NDT is slated for the first week of April.

"Thad and Charles are excited about their chances in the season-ending tournaments," Hanson said. "A lot of variables affect who wins these tournaments, but Thad and Charles have a great shot at doing well. They are one of several teams in position to emerge as national champs at season's end."

Earlier this season, Olney and Blank won tournaments hosted by California State University-Fullerton and Western Washington University. They placed third in tournaments at Harvard and the University of Kentucky, and fifth in competitions hosted by the University of Southern California and West Georgia University.

Olney and Blank are not the only Whitman students excelling in speech and debate this season.

In parliamentary debate, junior Chris Gorman and sophomore Bridget Kustin are currently ranked No. 9 in the national ranking system. "They are the highest ranked team we've ever had in parliamentary debate," Hanson said.

Gorman, a politics major from Woodburn, Ore., and Kustin, an English major from Sherman Oaks, Calif., placed second at Western Washington's Northwest Scrimmage, third at Lewis-Clark State, and fifth at national tournaments hosted by Cal State-Fullerton and the University of Utah. They have won 86 percent of their preliminary round debates.

Gorman and Kustin will compete later this week in a national tournament hosted by Point Loma University. One other Whitman team, juniors Sam Spiegel (politics, Vancouver, British Columbia) and Beth Pearson (undeclared, Indianola, Ind.), will also compete at Point Loma.

Thus far this season in Individual Event competitions, Pearson has claimed two first-place trophies in Persuasive Speaking. Jackie Jenkins, a sophomore history major from Hermiston, Ore., has won two tournaments and placed fourth once in Informative Speaking.

Competing in the Duo event, Kustin and Spiegel have appeared in tournament finals three times, winning at the University of Oregon and placing second at the University of Utah.

Spiegel and Kustin have added other victories on their own. Spiegel placed first and second in Interpretation at Oregon and Utah. Kustin was first in Informative Speaking at Pacific Lutheran.

More than 20 members of Whitman's speech and debate team will compete in early February at a Northwest Forensics Conference designated tournament at Western Washington University.

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CONTACT:

Dave Holden, Whitman News Service, 509 527-5902
Email: holden@whitman.edu