By ALAN HOSKINS
The Kansas City Kansas Community College debate team will head into the holiday break ranked No. 1 in two community college national polls and on the way to No. 4 in the rankings of all colleges and universities.
Coach Darren Elliott’s team ended the fall season with a pair of top three finishes in the Illinois states tournament.
Compiling a 4-2 record in the preliminaries, the KCKCC duo of Ryan McFarland and Kristyn Russell defeated Johnson County Community College in the quarterfinals before losing in the semifinals to the eventual champion, the University of Michigan.
Finishing third overall, both Russell and McFarland were Top 10 speakers.
Payton Cummings and Justin Parks were second overall in junior varsity competition.
After a 5-1 record in preliminaries, they defeated Concordia College in the semifinals before losing in the finals. Cummings was second speaker overall and Parks fourth.
The team of Marin Loken and Alex Glanzman took fifth in the JV meet, compiling a 4-2 preliminary record before losing to Concordia in the quarterfinals.
“As the semester ends, KCKCC is ranked No. 1 in the nation in both the CEDA (Cross Examination Debate Assn.) and NDT (National Debate Tournament) national rankings and once the Illinois state points are entered, KCKCC will be No.4 among all colleges and universities in the nation,” said Elliott. “This will put us just above the University of Oklahoma and Georgetown – a great place to begin the Spring Semester.”
