Gonzaga Debate Team of Harper & Newton Capture First Place at Whitman College Tournament

The Gonzaga University debate team. Top row (from left) Geoff Lundeen, Mark Ornelas, Glen Frappier, and Steve Pointer. Middle Row (from left) Hailey Clawson, Joe Engel, and Wenyu Zhang. Bottom row (from left) Mitsu Gunsolus, Paloma Cruz, Tim Harper, and Jordon Newton.

SPOKANE, Wash. – Gonzaga University’s debate team of senior Tim Harper, from Ashland, Ore., and sophomore Jordon Newton, Spokane, captured first place in a recent tournament hosted by Whitman College in Walla Walla. The tourney ended early Monday, Nov. 19 and is the last one for fall semester.

Harper and Newton posted a 6-0 record in the preliminaries to advance to the elimination rounds as the top seed. After defeating Whitman College and University of Oregon in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, they defeated No. 2 seed University of Puget Sound, 2-1, in the finals.

The Zag debaters will take a break from travel as they prepare for spring semester competitions. Gonzaga will host its annual high school debate tournament, the Conway Classic, Jan. 4-5. The team will depart Jan. 5 for California to compete Jan. 7-9 in a tournament at California State University at Fullerton.

Gonzaga’s debate program is consistently among the nation’s most successful. Last spring, a Zag team advanced to the National Debate Tournament’s Final Four for the first time in school history. Gonzaga has qualified at least one team for the NDT for 16 consecutive years.

For more information, please contact Glen Frappier, director of forensics and senior lecturer for the communication arts department, at (509) 313-6663 or via e-mail.