The small RUDU contingent at Swarthmore College, where Chris Bergman broke for the fourth time in his last five tournaments. Left to right: Deepta Janardhan, Quinn Maingi, Kyle Bomeisl, Sean Leonard, Chris Bergman, and Chris Baia.
The larger contingent of RUDU at the University of Connecticut, where Rutgers made the novice break for the first time since NYU. Left to right: Kai Rau, Leland Perice, Gabi Cozzolino, Becky Ratero, Storey Clayton, Alex Jubb, Rachel Moon, Gordon Morrisette, Nisha Kumar, Adam Bomeisl, Ashley Novak, Henry Phipps, and Russell Potter.
The Rutgers University Debate Union (RUDU) extended its varsity break streak to twelve weekends at Swarthmore and made the novice break for the first time in nearly two months at UConn as it maintained its third overall ranking in the American Parliamentary Debate Association (APDA) standings. Meanwhile, this standing has gotten increased notoriety with a front-page article on the Rutgers website, featuring interviews with Coach Storey Clayton and former President Chris Bergman.
Bergman broke for the fourth time in five weekends he’s competed, this time with Quinn Maingi. Despite breaking as the sixth seed, they dropped in partial octofinals and finished ninth overall. Meanwhile, in Connecticut, Gabi Cozzolino and Becky Ratero made novice semifinals for their first career break, dropping a close decision to finish 4th novice team.
Here are the official results:
SWARTHMORE
Chris Bergman & Quinn Maingi – 9th Team
Chris Bergman – 10th Speaker
Sean Leonard – 5th Novice Speaker
UCONN
Ashley Novak & Henry Phipps – 10th Team
Ashley Novak – 10th Speaker
Gabi Cozzolino & Becky Ratero – 4th Novice Team
Gabi Cozzolino – 8th Novice Speaker
Ratero was competing in just her second career tournament and Cozzolino made the novice speaker rankings and break for the first time in only her fourth career tournament. The second-semester recruits carried the banner for the squad at the University of Connecticut after Novak and Phipps missed the varsity break by a mere two ranks, one of the closest possible tiebreakers.
Two weekends remain in the regular season before Rutgers sends at least five teams to the APDA National Championships, to be held April 19-21 at the University of Maryland. This weekend features competitions at both Brandeis and the University of Virginia, both of which Rutgers will attend.
A screenshot of the current front page of the Rutgers University website (rutgers.edu), featuring the headline article under News on the Debate Union.
