McKendree’s Speech and Debate Team Advances to Elimination Rounds in National Tournament

(LEBANON, Ill., Feb. 12, 2026) – McKendree University’s Speech and Debate team had a breakout performance this past weekend with the team of sophomore Ari Carney and first-year Aidan Bradley advancing to elimination rounds of “Big Red Mackie” national warm-up tournament, co-hosted by Denison University and Mercer University.

The team of Carney and Bradley recorded three wins from their five preliminary rounds while competing virtually against teams from Appalachian State University in North Carolina, Whitman College in Washington, the University of California – Berkeley, and the University of Oregon. The tournament featured competitors from 13 institutions across 10 different states. They were eliminated from the tournament in the round of 16.

“This is a breakout moment for our students,” said Head Debate Coach Brent Nicholson. “They’ve had three consecutive tournaments before this one on the verge of advancing to elimination rounds, and they made that next big step this time. That’s a testament to the work of Ari and Aidan have done and to the work of our coaching staff and their teammates in helping build up McKendree students to excel against their peers from all over the country.”

This performance puts the pair of student sin position to qualify for the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence (NPTE), which is an invitation-only tournament in parliamentary style debate. The team will submit its application this week. Previous McKendree teams have placed as high as second place at the NPTE.

McKendree’s Speech and Debate team finishes its regular season next week at the Missouri Association of Forensics Activity’s year-end tournament.

Interested students are always welcome to join McKendree’s Speech and Debate team. Students can contact Director of Speech and Debate Joe Blasdel by emailing jeblasdel@mckendree.edu with any inquiries about the team.

 

-McK-