The Carroll Talking Saints debate team didn’t win any trophies in London, but they won respect from some fine teams as they nearly advanced at one of the world’s toughest World Debate Tournaments.
Upon returning home they were awarded a bid to the America’s Cup World Debate Tournament in Los Angeles, one of only 16 American teams selected.
The team of Megan Towles, a senior from Huntington Beach, Calif., and Chris Axtman, a senior from Portland, Ore., missed advancing to the quarterfinals at Oxford University on Nov. 10-11 by one point, earning 9 points with 10 required to advance. In five rounds, with four teams competing in each round, the Carroll team placed second, second, fourth, second and first, in that order earning a top 30-finish in the elite 124-team World-style tournament.
The Oxford tournament was won by the University of Toronto’s Hart House team, which defeated teams from London, Scotland and Ireland in the final round.
Among the teams that Towles and Axtman defeated were debaters from top law schools in London (Inner Temple), Ireland (University College Cork) and Scotland (University of Edinburgh University).
“And we narrowly lost to a top Cambridge University team in round one,” said Axtman. “They were first, we were second in a close round. The judges took forever to make a decision.”
In World Debate students in law school or graduate school compete alongside undergraduates: If you are enrolled at any school, at any age, you are eligible for World Debate.
The fourth place finish in round three was the difference. That was a “power matched” round featuring top ranked teams at that point in the tournament.
“Amazing to compete against the best teams in the worlds,” said Axtman. “And we were pleasantly surprised we didn’t embarrass ourselves.
We learned a lot by talking to teams from other countries. We made friends from Singapore and the Netherlands. They had different perspectives about the world that opened our eyes.”
At Cambridge, held one week later on Nov. 17-18, the team fared less well, earning a first, second, third, fourth and fourth to put them in a tie for 76th in the 117-team tournament.
Between tournaments the team saw London, attended a very British play (“One Man, Two Guvnors”) and volunteered at Catholic soup kitchen in the basement of St Peters Church in Northchurch Terrace, London.
The church café serves low income people. Chris washed dishes while Megan helped prepare and serve food and talked to people.
“We’re glad we had that experience,” said Axtman. “This church café is really making a difference in their community.”
Upon returning home from their fine showing in London, the team was invited to the America’s Cup tournament, a by-invitation-only tournament held in Los Angeles the day before the national championships in April at the University of LaVerne.
Only 16 teams will be invited from the 200-team national field, and Carroll is one of them. Carroll was among the first five teams selected for the America’s Cup field.
“We’re very proud of their showing in our first European World Tournament,” said coach Brent Northup. “And being selected for the America’s Cup right after they returned was no coincidence. The Oxford showing probably sealed their America’s Cup bid. They were in the hunt at that event which was filled with the world’s best World Debate teams.”
This is the Talking Saints first year of competition in World Debate. While Towles and Axtman were debating in London, two other Carroll teams debated against Afghanistan via Skype in Oregon.
Earlier this semester, the freshmen traveled to Calgary to compete.
“The learning curve is high for us in our first year in World Debate,” said Northup. “But the rewards are great. The intercultural experience of discussing world events with students from other countries enhances the Carroll liberal arts education in so many ways.”