WKU Debaters Claim Top Two
Spots In National Rankings

September 23, 2004

Bowling Green, Ky. - Western Kentucky University's Forensics Team has claimed the top two spots in the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence's (NPTE) initial season rankings.

The team of Hannah Reliford and Caleb Williams claimed the No. 1 ranking with 8.5 NPTE points, while the team of Jennifer Purcell and Joelle Perry is No. 2 with 6.0 points.

NPTE uses a computer formula similar to the NCAA's Bowl Championship Series to rank the nation's top teams.

Western's team members reached the top spots after their performance in the final round of Parliamentary Debate at the Sept. 17-19 Purdue Boilermaker Invitational.

Jennifer Corum and Justin Cress tied with seven other teams to claim the No. 10 position with 3.0 NPTE points. The teams of Chad Meadows/Ashley Burgdorf and Nicole Hawk/Logan Scisco tied for No. 17 with 1.0 NPTE points.

Placing four teams in the top 25 is quite an accomplishment for Western, Director of Forensics Judy Woodring said. "It speaks highly of the work our debate coach Doug Mory is doing," she said.

This weekend, the WKU debaters will travel to the Clairmont College Parliamentary Debate Invitational while the individual events squad will compete at the Clemson University/Morehouse College Swing Tournament.
For more information, contact Judy Woodring, forensics director, at (270) 745-6340. More WKU news is available on the World Wide Web at www.wku.edu. If you'd like to receive WKU news via E-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.

-WKU-