Pair of McKendree’s Speech and Debate Team Members Rank 18th in Nation
The team of Aidan Bradley and Elan Headlee were recently ranked by national organization.
(LEBANON, Ill., Oct. 30, 2025) – McKendree University’s speech and debate team competed virtually at the Gina Lane Swing, a pair of online tournaments hosted by William Jewell College from Oct. 24 through 26. Three partnerships competed in two competitions: Elan Headlee and Aidan Bradley, C. Houck and Jada Tolbert, and Ari Carney and Victoria Adewole.
In the first tournament the team finished a combined 5-10 and no partnership advanced to elimination rounds. In the second tournament, the team turned it around with a combined 8-7 record, its first team-wide winning record of the season. The highlight was the team of Bradley and Headlee finishing preliminary rounds with a perfect 5-0 record and being the top seed in the elimination stage. They ultimately lost in the round of eight, finishing in fifth place.
The team of Bradley and Headlee is now ranked 18th in the nation in NPDA style debate by the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence.
“This is great in two ways. First, the performance from Elan and Aidan is exceptional, and we love to see hard work and dedication pay off. Second, this was a team win. We prepared well for this tournament and were rewarded for that with an 8-7 record across the day,” said Brent Nicholson, head debate coach at McKendree University.
On Friday, Oct. 17, Headlee competed alongside Gracie Vincent and the partnership of TJ McCurtis and El Gray in Team-IPDA debate, online at the Razorback Rumble, hosted by the University of Arkansas. Headlee and Vincent finished 2-2, narrowly missing elimination rounds while McCurtis and Gray finished 0-4 in their first foray as partners.
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