Southeastern NEWS

                                                       Southeastern Louisiana University
                                           Public Information Office
                                           publicinfo@selu.edu
                                           SLU 880, Hammond, LA 70402
                                           504/549-2341/fax 504-549-2061
    Date: 9/29/99
      Contact:                           Christina Chapple   20

SLU DEBATE TEAM TAKES FIRST PLACE
     HAMMOND -- Southeastern Louisiana University's debate team took the First Place
Debate Program award at the third annual Pejavar Debates at Middle Tennessee State University
on Sept. 23.
     Southeastern, which had one of the smallest debate squads at the Pejavar Debates, bested
more than 20 universities, including all major debate programs in the Cross Examination Debate
Association (CEDA) South East Region, said director Scott M. Elliott of Southeastern's
communication and theatre department faculty. 
     Southeastern's first place finish was followed by the University of Alabama, second, and
Idaho State University, third. The debate tournament included teams from Louisiana State
University, Arkansas State University, and Vanderbilt University, Elliott said.
     The Southeastern team, which has consistently been ranked first or second in CEDA's
South-Central (Louisiana-Texas) Region, also placed third overall out of 15 schools participating
in a tournament at Valdosta State University, Sept. 30-Oct. 3, Elliot said. 
     In addition to the Southeastern team's overall successes, individual debaters have also
excelled, Elliott said. 
     At the Middle Tennessee State tournament, "The most amazing success for Southeastern
occurred in the novice division," Elliot said. "By far the largest division, novice debate is for first
year college debaters. The Southeastern team of Carl Gauthier of Greenwell Springs and Nathan
Foster of Hammond, established a perfect record in their march to first place honors." Elliott
said Gauthier and Foster were undefeated in preliminary rounds and were the top seed for
elimination rounds. "Their final tally of ballots was a stunning 18-0," Elliott said.
     In the junior varsity division of more than 30 teams, Ashley Smith of Hammond and 
                             (MORE)
SLU DEBATE TEAM   Add One
Celeste Seitz of Mandeville, the eighth seed, upset number one seed Arkansas Sate University in
the quarter finals and placed second in the division. Zachary Hyden and Angel Monistere, both
of Hammond, placed fifth.
     Gauthier also took second place speaker honors in Valdosta, while Shannon O'Neal of
Picayune, Miss., was second in the novice division.
     
                             -SLU-
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