This past weekend WU Debate sent five teams to the Mile High swing tournament in Salt Lake City, hosted by the University of Utah and Texas Tech University. 

The Mile High remains the largest and most competitive regular season invitational of the year. Just under 100 of the top parliamentary debate teams in America were in attendance. Washburn was joined by debate squads from universities across the country

WU Debate was recognized as the top squad at the Mile High, winning the overall sweepstakes there.  With this important step forward, Washburn will once again be in the national championship conversation—both for the squad and individual team championship—in March at the National Parliamentary Debate Association Championships and the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence.  Both events will be held in the Kansas City area. 

At the first half of the Mile High, Washburn cleared four of its five teams to elimination rounds. The team of Bailey Hockett (fr.) and Kelly Burns (fr.) ended up a triple octafinalist, an impressive feat for an all first-year team at the Mile High. Washburn’s other three teams all stormed to the quarterfinal round (elite eight) where they faced off against the remaining squads from University of California Berkeley (with one team remaining), Southern Illinois University Carbondale (with one team remaining), University of Puget Sound (with one team remaining), and Whitman (with two teams remaining). The teams of Ian Mikkelsen (sr.) and Dan Lyon (sr.) as well as Evan Johnson (jr.) and Quintin Brown (jr.) both ended up as quarterfinalists. The team of Kaitlyn Bull (so.) and Ryan Kelly (so.) beat back one of the teams from Whitman in quartfinals and ended up losing to Southern Illinois University, reigning national champion, in the semifinal round (final four). (Whitman defeated SIUC in the first half finals.)

At the second half of the Mile High, Washburn cleared all five of its teams to elimination rounds. The team of Bailey Hockett (fr.) and Kelly Burns (fr.) bettered their first half performance by winning their first elimination round against the United States Air Force Academy, ending up a double octafinalist.  Compatriots Kaitlyn Bull (so.) and Ryan Kelly (so.) as well as Matt Parnell (so.) and Grant Waters (so.) also ended up double octafinalists.  The teams of Ian Mikkelsen (sr.) and Dan Lyon (sr.) as well as Evan Johnson (jr.) and Quintin Brown (jr.) both ended up octafinalists.