News Release

Debate pair earns nat'l title

Friday, March 23, 2012

Daniela Lorenz (left) and Carolyn Ritter show off their novice parliamentary debate awards, earned at the Pi Kappa Delta National Comprehensive Tournament in Overland Park, Kan.

The novice parliamentary debate team of Carolyn Ritter and Daniela Lorenz earned a national championship at the Pi Kappa Delta National Comprehensive Tournament March 16-18 in Overland Park, Kan.

The SCSU Speech & Debate Team competed with nearly 70 colleges and universities in the biennial tournament. Participants filled more than 1,100 event slots.    

Ritter, a first-year student from Grand Rapids, also won an 11^th place Debate Speaker Award. Lorenz, a sophomore from Ellsworth, Wis., also earned a 15^th place Debate Speaker Award.  

"Wow, this is a great group of students. I am very proud of their hard work and efforts this year," said Scott Wells, associate professor of Communication Studies and director of SCSU Forensics.  "A national championship is an amazing feat and well deserved."   

Other St. Cloud State competitors included: 

• Bailey Hess, an Andover junior, advanced to the quarterfinals in Program of Oral Interpretation.
• Cimarron Burt, a sophomore from Lakota, N.D., competed in Program of Oral Interpretation and Poetry Interpretation.
• Emma Berg, an Eden Prairie sophomore, competed in After Dinner Speaking.
• Trevor Thill, a North St. Paul junior, competed in Extemporaneous Speaking.
• Spencer Sundberg, an Eden Prairie sophomore, competed in Extemporaneous Speaking.
• Thill and Sundberg competed as a Parliamentary Debate team.  

Pi Kappa Delta is one of the largest forensics honorary societies in the United States.

Speech and debate teach students important skills, including public speaking, interpretive analysis, research methods and critical thinking. 

The SCSU Speech & Debate Team is open to any St. Cloud State student in good standing. For more information, contact Scott Wells at sdwells@stcloudstate.edu or 320-308-3000.

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