Marquette Runner-Up at Woodward Second Year Nationals; Hoffmann Earns Top Speaker
Posted on April 2nd, 2009 by Bill Batterman (Category: Policy Debate, Results)
The Webster Club’s top first and second year policy debaters traveled to Atlanta this past weekend to participate in the prestigious First and Second Year National Championships at Woodward Academy. Attracting a field of 140 teams from throughout the U.S., the Woodward Tournament brings together the country’s best first and second year debaters for a weekend of tough competition that serves as a barometer for future success.
After losing in the quarterfinals as freshmen, Michael and Jack entered this year’s tournament as one of the favorites in the second year division. Hoping to better their semifinals appearance at the St. Mark’s Sophomore Hoe Down in October, the duo advanced to the elimination rounds as the top seed with a perfect 6-0 record, boasting wins over teams from St. Mark’s (TX, twice), Alpharetta (GA), Chattahoochee (GA), Pine Crest (FL), and Oak Park-River Forest (IL). Wins over Henry W. Grady (GA) in the octafinals and Pine Crest in the quarterfinals set up a showdown with the fourth-seeded Westminster (GA) on Sunday morning. Defending the negative, Michael and Jack earned another victory and advanced to the final round to debate Mountain Brook (AL). On a 2-1 decision, Kevin Jiang and Lee Quinn were awarded the championship with the Hilltoppers forced to settle for second place.
Despite the loss, Michael and Jack advanced farther at this year’s Second Year National Championship than any team in Marquette’s history. In addition to their second place finish, Michael was named the tournament’s top individual speaker with Jack finishing twelfth. Michael joins a small and very elite list of sophomores to win the top speaker award at both the Sophomore Hoe Down and Second Year National Championship in the same season.
The Webster Club’s freshmen team of Tom Herrmann and Tyler Thur also acquitted themselves well despite limited national circuit experience. A mix of tough competition and bad luck left them with a disappointing 2-4 preliminary round record, but both debaters learned a lot from the experience and are poised to have outstanding sophomore campaigns.
As has become tradition, the squad also made a much-anticipated visit to Mary Mac’s Tea Room, the greatest restaurant in the world. Despite the rainy weekend, the entire squad—Michael, Jack, Tom, Tyler, and senior Joe Balistreri, who fulfilled our judging commitment and provided invaluable coaching throughout the tournament while Mr. Batterman directed tabulation—had a fantastic time and again confirmed that the future of the Marquette program is incredibly bright.