UK Hosts Hatfield and McCoy Swing, Places Second

LEXINGTON, KY. (Feb. 8, 2017) — The University of Kentucky Speech and Debate Team, formerly the UK Forensics Team, partnered with Marshall University to host the inaugural Hatfield and McCoy speech and debate swing tournament Jan. 21-22. While the tournament was named for the infamous feud between two families on the Kentucky-West Virginia border, the competition was friendly but fierce. Schools from seven states as far away as Michigan and Georgia traveled to UK for the tournament.

The Saturday half of the tournament was named the McCoy Invitational and was hosted by UK. To help facilitate the tournament, the upperclassmen from UK’s team did not compete, but helped with other tournament hosting duties. UK’s freshmen class did compete and had a very successful tournament. Laura McAllister and Alec Foust placed fourth and fifth in quadrathon, a category which takes the cumulative total of all points earned in all the events in which a student competes. McAllister and Foust also won improvisational duo and took second in duo interpretation. Will Brennan was the top speaker in public debate and Josh Finley placed second in persuasive speaking.

On Sunday, Marshall University took over to host the Hatfield Invitational, and UK’s full team participated in the competition. UK placed second in team sweepstakes behind Bowling Green State University. Junior Kaylon Kennedy and sophomore Matt Karijolic won duo interpretation, Kennedy also won program oral interpretation, Karijolic placed second in rhetorical criticism, sophomore Veronica Scott won persuasive speaking and broadcasting, and senior Sam Northrup placed second in impromptu speaking. In total, the team qualified another five events for nationals.

Read the full list of awards UK students earned at the tournament here.

The University of Kentucky Speech and Debate Team is committed to training the next generation of civic leaders who are passionate about effecting change in their communities. To foster these skills, the team takes part in competitions throughout the southeast region of the United States. The team’s next competition will be the Kentucky Forensic Association state tournament held at Owensboro Community and Technical College in Owensboro, Kentucky, Feb. 17-18, 2017.

UK Speech and Debate is a student organization in the School of Information Science in the College of Communication and Information. The team regularly competes in 12 public speaking events and three forms of debate. To find out more, please visit the team’s website at www.ukforensics.com.