Matt Stannard, MA, Director of Forensics:
Matt Stannard has been coaching debate for fourteen years and has helped
teams win eight national championships and national speaking titles, and
countless individual tournament titles. He was the recipient of the
2007 Coach of the Year at the Val Browning Round Robin at Weber State,
and is currently a member of the national committee of the National
Debate Tournament and the Cross Examination Debate Association. He was
the founding President of the National Parliamentary Tournament of
Excellence. As a Lecturer in rhetorical theory, and a political
activist, Matt writes and speaks on issues of socioeconomic class and
political movements, and co-hosts the weekly internet political talk
show "Shared Sacrifice." He has taught at, or directed, summer debate
workshops in Korea, Wyoming, Georgia, California, Utah, Maryland, and
Vermont.
Matthew Plush:
As a debater at Colorado State University, Matt Plush appeared at every
round robin and in late elimination rounds of every major parliamentary
tournament, finishing up his career as a first round at-large bid
recipient and national runner-up at the 2005 NPTE. Matt was also an
extremely successful coach at Poudre Valley High School and Southern
Illinois University before coming to UW to finish his MA in
Communication. Last seaon, he helped the UW parliamentary debate squad
win 5th place in national tournament sweepstakes, clear three teams to
6-2 records and elim appearances at NPDA, win a first round at-large bid
and top speaker award at the NPTE, and win several invitationals
throughout the year.
Kristen Owen:
As a debater for Texas Tech University, Kristen Owen was the 2008 NPDA
national champion, after being a semifinalist there in 2007. She
compiled a 12-0 record at the Denver Mile-High tournament, was the top
first round at-large bid to NPTE, won three tournaments in a row
(Wyoming, William Jewell, and Lewis and Clark), and appeared in all the
major round robin competitions during her career. Kristen is a first
year Masters student in Communication at UW.
Chris Crowe:
As a UW debater, Chris Crowe was CEDA Debater of the Year in 2006, and
advanced to elimination rounds at Harvard, Northwestern, Gonzaga,
Fullerton, Georgia State, Texas, and Wake Forest. Chris was also a
two-time finalist, and subsequent winner, of the Weber Round Robin.
Last year he helped the UW policy squad advance to elimination rounds at
the NDT for the first time in two decades, advance to the sweet 16 at
USC, Gonzaga and CEDA Nats, win a regional sweepstakes title, and finish
in the top 20 of the NDT national varsity rankings.
Jeffrey Fife:
Debating at UW, Jeff was a three-time elimination round participant at
NPDA nationals and a three-time NPTE qualifier who appeared in the
fourth elimination round there his senior year, winning several
tournaments and speaker awards throughout his career. Jeff was also a
semifinalist at both the Hatfields and the Pacific Round Robin, and a
quarterfinalist at both Air Force and Colorado College, his senior
year.
Ryan Cheek:
As a debater for Weber State University, Ryan was a three-year NDT
qualifier, and the District 9 NDT Champion his senior year. He was in
elimination rounds throughout his career, including at CEDA Nationals,
Wayne State University, Denver University, the Val Browning Round Robin,
Richmond University, University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Central Oklahoma,
and CSU-Fullerton.