Alison Rodriguez
Staff Writer
Motivated by its recent international win in Canada, the debate team continued its successful streak, placing first in the UC Davis tournament this month for the second year in a row.
Two teams, consisting of juniors Brittany Boiko and Natalie Holland, as well as sophomore Jonathan Singleton and graduate student Brittany Lokar, made it to the final round. Lokar and Singleton brought home the gold in the tournament that ran Nov. 8-10.
“The second they announced that we won, time just froze and I had to convince myself that it was real,” Singleton said. “Once it registered, I was finally content and confident with facing strong opponents in the future.”
ULV competed against 36 teams from across the West Coast in the annual tournament.
“Our team did so well that I knew it was going to be one of us,” assistant coach Thomas Allison said. “But it was pure joy and excitement knowing their hard work paid off.”
“ULV debate as a whole is actually interesting to listen to. We have unique personalities and use those to our advantage in the rounds,” Lokar said. “The final was certainly an example of that. We just owned it.”
There were six preliminary rounds and one semi-final round before ULV reached the finals. Lokar and Singleton debated against San Luis Obispo and Loyola Marymount, as well as their own teammates in the final.
“This win exemplifies the excellence of La Verne Debate,” Lokar said. “It’s always nice to continue our success as a team and add another championship to our name and our university.”
The teams went along with assistant coaches Michaeline Anderson and Allison.
“I am confident that we will continue to have a strong presence in all of the tournaments that we attend, as both debaters and judges,” Anderson said. “On a national and international level, other institutions respect not only our skill level, but also our ability to reach out and make friends everywhere we go. I am excited to watch this team continue to succeed and grow in all capacities,” she said.
The squad’s “A” team will travel to the World Universities Debating Championships at Rajalakshmi Engineering College in Chennai, India, in December.
They are also scheduled to compete Dec. 7-8 in Seattle and attend other tournaments later in the year at Purdue University.
Alison Rodriguez can be reached at alison.rodriguez2@laverne.edu.
