Meet the 2008-2009 UW Coaching Staff

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.