WFU debate program receives coach of the year awards

By Sarah Mansell
336.758.5237
March 13, 2003

Ross Smith, coach of the Wake Forest University debate team, was named coach of the year in the Southeast region at the Southeast Cross Examination Debate Association Championships in Atlanta March 1 – 2.

Jarrod Atchison, assistant coach for the Wake Forest debate team, was named graduate assistant of the year.

The Southeast region includes North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Alabama.

Smith, who has been coach since 1984, was national coach of the year in 1994 and 1998, and District VI coach of the year in 2000. He has qualified more teams to the elimination rounds of the National Debate Tournament than any other coach in the last decade and his teams have won every major intercollegiate invitational and round robin tournament at least once.

Atchison, a 2002 Wake Forest graduate, earned the best regular season record in the history of Wake Forest debate during his senior year. He was also named the second best speaker in the country in 2002.

The Wake Forest debate program hosts several national debate tournaments throughout the year and is consistently ranked among the top programs in the country.

Download Text File