Debaters place high in St. Louis
Meghan Martin
News Writer
The Notre Dame Debate Team achieved unprecedented success last weekend at the Gateway Invitational debate tournament at Washington University in St. Louis.
The 12 members who participated in the event, led by second-year law student Kate Huetteman, the team's director, debated in two-person teams against pairings from other colleges and universities from the Midwest and the south in both varsity and novice divisions.
After nine rounds of 40-minute Parliamentary-style varsity debates, two of Notre Dame's five teams emerged victorious in the final championship round.
"It was basically complete domination," said Huetteman, who is in her second year of coaching Notre Dame's team. "We came home with two huge sweepstakes trophies."
In a typical final-round scenario, the two competing teams hail from opposing schools, and are therefore required to debate in front of three judges, who will then determine the winning pair, whose school team would be awarded a specific amount of points.
This time, there was no question which school would be awarded the points. "We didn't have to debate the final round, because we really don't debate against our own team," Huetteman said.
The final round was called off, team points were tallied and the Irish debaters were declared victors.
"At this tournament, we got 26 points towards the National Parliamentary Debate Association's (NPDA) National Sweepstakes," Huetteman said, referring to the governing body of college-level debate. At each regional tournament, held variously throughout the academic year at schools across the country, teams compete in six preliminary rounds of debate before breaking into octafinal, quarter-final, semi-final, and final rounds, each of which they are allotted a set number of points for strong performances.
Huetteman said that the most productive teams often gain between 21 and 24 points per tournament, which is what makes this particular event so historical for Notre Dame's contingent.
"The team had unprecedented single-tournament success," she said. "It's pretty remarkable, because the NPDA keep a tally on their website of all the schools across the country, and Notre Dame is clearly on top. Last season we were fifth in the nation. Twenty-six is the best you can do in a tournament like this."
Senior political science major Maureen Gottlieb and her partner, fellow senior Victoria Fetterman, made up one of the two Notre Dame pairings that made it to the final round, meeting fellow Notre Dame students Meghan Callahan-Peters, a sophomore, and Chris Gallo, a senior and the team's president, in top standing. Both teams were declared unanimous victors by all three judges in their respective semifinal rounds.
"It was a really good step in our season," Gottlieb said. "The fact that we had undefeated teams is unbelievable."
In the novice division, first-time debaters Mike Subialka and Tim Fiorta, both freshmen, advanced to a final round where they, too, were won by unanimous ballots on behalf of all of their judges.
Both Subialka and Fiorta also won individual speaking awards, nominated third- and fourth-place novice speakers, respectively.
Subialka credits the training he has received from the upperclassmen on the team for its unprecedented success.
"Kate does a great job of preparing us – I think we're much better prepared than most," he said. "A lot of the upperclassmen are really helpful… They have helped us by spending a lot of time going over the technicalities and intricacies of debate."
Huetteman agreed. "The team has really benefited this year from its senior leadership – the veteran debaters have really helped me train the freshmen and sophomores," she said, noting that the team has been practicing every Sunday for four hours all semester, and individual pairings can often be found running practice debates throughout the week.
"One thing these kids are very good at," she said, "is that they have to be good about keeping up with current events, because the topics change every round."
Adaptability, she said, was also key to the team's success in their most recent tournament, as topics and partners are apt to change at a moment's notice.
"The team has been really fun to coach this year; they've worked hard and have a great attitude," Huetteman said. "Everyone brings a little something different to the table."
Senior mechanical engineering major Clayton Swope, who with partner Mainon Schwartz broke into the octafinals round at the St. Louis tournament, marked his fourth year as a Notre Dame debater. Since his first tournament, he said he has seen a noticeable progression in the team's development.
"It's definitely been exponentially improving since my freshman year. Before, Notre Dame was unheard-of in the debate world," Swope said. "We have built a reputation as a debate school. When Notre Dame comes to a tournament, people expect success. We're nationally known. We were fifth in the nation last year, and there's not much you can do to improve upon that."
As a senior, Gottlieb has her hopes on the top prize: the National Parliamentary Debate Association's championships, slated to be held in Portland, Ore., in March.
"It's my senior year, so it would be great to win a National Championship, like everyone else at Notre Dame… we could do it feasibly," she said. "Our team is working very well together… it's really a team effort."
With help from team benefactors Helen and William T. Carey, Saint Mary's and Notre Dame alumni, Notre Dame debaters will be given the opportunity to prove themselves again as a nationally ranked debate program.
All News Stories for Friday, November 22, 2002
