UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, OH — Four debaters (Chris Mayer, Luisa Gunn, Elias Saric, Tergel Khatanbataar) travelled to John Carroll University this past weekend (March 10-11) just outside Cleveland, Ohio.  The tournament represented the sixth and final tournament of the Northern Tier Debate Conference season.  Over the course of the season, Lafayette has fared very well in both the open and novice division.

At the John Carroll Tournament, Chris Mayer was a semifinalist in the open division and finished as 4th speaker.  Elias Saric was also a quarterfinalist in open.  Tergel Khatanbataar had a 6-0 record in the novice division, and was a semifinalist.  Tergel was also top speaker in the novice division.  This was a great finish and was exactly what the team needed to end the conference season.

These results ended a fantastic run for the team.  Lafayette took home 8 conference awards at the season-ending ceremony.  Chris Mayer finished as the second best open debater and the second best open speaker.  Luisa Gunn finished as the top novice competitor and the second best novice speaker.  Tergel Khatanbataar was the second best novice competitor and the top novice speaker.  Victoria Puglia was the third best novice speaker.  In the team category, Chris Mayer, Ansh Mishra, and Luisa Gunn placed Lafayette second in the conference behind only John Carroll University.

Debate Coach John Boyer had this to say, “I’ve been at Lafayette for 12+ years and this is on the shortlist for my proudest moment coaching.  Watching Chris take on a leadership role as a sophomore, and watching this group of young competitors grow and improve over the course of the season has been nothing short of amazing.  I’m excited to watch them take the next step as debaters.”

In April, Lafayette Forensics Society’s debaters will take that next step at the National Forensics Association’s championship tournament at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.