Owensboro Community and Technical College

« Back to Recent News

OCTC Debaters Earn Third Place Team Award in National Tournament

by Bernie Hale

Owensboro, KY (11/01/2021) — Owensboro Community & Technical College's Speech & Debate Team is competing this season despite some restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. OCTC debaters excelled while competing virtually in event co-hosted by Lewis and Clark University and Whitman College in Portland, Oregon. The Steve Hunt Memorial Invitational Debate Tournament, held October 8-10, 2021 is one of the largest debate tournaments in the U.S. with more than 70 colleges from 26 states competing.

OCTC speakers a second place award in Novice IPDA debate, a top five speaker award, and the OCTC team earned a third place team sweepstakes award. The tournament was held online using Speechwire and TAATLY software.

David Daniel, a freshman from Owensboro, compiled a 4-1 win-loss record in preliminary rounds was byed forward to octafinals (top 16). Daniel went on to defeat debaters from Utah State, Butler University, and Colorado Christian, before losing a close 2-1 decision in finals, earning him a second place finish in the Novice Division of International Public Debate Association (IPDA) Debate. IPDA Debate is the most popular form of academic debate in the United States. Daniel also earned fourth place speaker honors out of a division with 40 debaters competing from all over the United States.

Heaven Taylor, a freshman from Owensboro, competed for the first time and finished one round out of the championship finals. Together, Taylor and Daniel earned third place Debate Team Sweepstakes Honor in the Community College Division. Taylor and Daniel also both attend Owensboro High School and are dually enrolled in classes at OCTC.

##

Owensboro Community & Technical College is one of the sixteen community and technical colleges that make up the Kentucky Community & Technical College System. OCTC serves the KY counties of Daviess, Hancock, Ohio and McLean. OCTC has three campuses in Daviess County and a Center and Annex in Hancock County. OCTC strives to serve the communities in the service area by providing associate degree education for transfer, state of the art technical education for students focusing on entering the workforce, customized business and industry solutions through the Workforce Solutions division, and adult education and business and industry testing through the SkillTrain unit.

#

The Kentucky Community and Technical College System is the Commonwealth's largest postsecondary institution with 16 colleges and more than 70 campuses. We also are Kentucky's largest provider of workforce training and online education. Through partnerships with business and industry, we align our programs to meet the needs of local employers. We help students fulfill their dreams of creating a better life through programs that lead directly to jobs or help them transfer to one of our four-year partners.

Connect with OCTC: Owensboro.kctcs | Facebook.com/owensboroctc | Twitter@OCTC_Tweets | Instagram OwensboroCTC

Media Attachments

Copyright © 2024 Merit Pages, Inc. • All Rights Reserved. • Terms of Service • Privacy Policy • Opt Out