Whitworth’s Arguing Bucs win third straight national title

The Arguing Bucs, Whitworth University’s forensics team, placed ahead of 22 schools from 18 states to win first place at the National Christian College Association National Tournament, which was March 20-22 at Colorado Christian University in Lakewood, Colorado. This is the team’s third consecutive year placing first.

The team also won 29 individual speech and eight individual debate awards.

Sam Director was recognized as the top overall competitor at the tournament, winning impromptu and placing fourth in extemporaneous, fourth in informative and fifth in persuasion. He was also in the top four for debate, which made him a semifinalist.

Sarah Sauter was the third overall competitor, placing second in both communication analysis and impromptu. Sauter was also a semifinalist in extemporaneous and a quarterfinalist in debate.

The team won eight of the 10 tournaments it competed in during the 2014-15 school year and placed second in the other two. The Arguing Bucs ended the season with a second place win at the International Public Debate Association National Tournament and a first place win in the yearlong sweepstakes, beating 93 schools across the U.S.

Whitworth Forensics team coach Mike Ingram, professor of communication studies and director of forensics, was recognized as the 2015 IPDA Coach of the Year during the tournament.