Brown wins pair of varsity national championships as LSUS Debate strongly finishes season

Brown wins pair of varsity national championships as LSUS Debate strongly finishes season

SHREVEPORT - LSU Shreveport debater Lindsey Brown claimed two varsity national championships in debate in the International Public Debate Association's national tournament at Middle Tennessee State University.

Brown clawed her way through five knockout rounds with a 16-1 record, dropping her only round in the finals before rattling off four straight wins to take the title.

The first-year transfer from Bossier Parish Community College also picked up a speaker national title, which measures students on their debate presentation and style.

"Lindsey is a powerhouse - there is no other way to say it," said Lindsay Duede, who finished her first season as LSUS's debate coach. "All season she has been able to adapt to anything I've thrown at her.

"She came in with a very strong foundation, but not once did she get complacent. I'm even more proud of her growth as a teammate, and she's transformed into a wonderful leader and teacher after adjusting to a larger team here at LSUS."

While Brown won tournament titles, LSUS nearly snatched a season-long championship in the professional division.

CJ Longino finished second in debate and third as a speaker in that professional division, nearly adding to his trophy count after winning a TIPDA (team) national title with partner Cameron Thoele and a team speaking title in 2025.

"CJ wasn't going to compete this year and instead focus on helping me coach the team, but a couple weeks in, I had CJ do a practice round against another competitor," Duede said. "They are just too dang good to sit on the bench.

"CJ is a force to be reckoned with, and just one more round win over the course of this entire season would have meant another national title for him. That's bittersweet, but still worth celebrating as the professional division is profoundly difficult."

The professional division includes graduate students and alumni.

As a team, LSUS placed fourth in the season-long standings in the professional division and fourth in the team debate category.

Brown contributed to the latter as she and partner Addison Jacobsen reached the octofinals in the national tournament and finished ninth in the season-long standings.

Other top-50 LSUS pairs (191 pairs total) include Kaleb Schmidley/Heidi Tyler (10^th), Jasmine Forck/Madeline McClatchey (20^th), Emily Dowd/Josephine Moore (35^th), Levi Grubbs/Param Thakkar (41^st).

Schmidley/Tyler won a national title at the earlier Pi Kappa Delta event in March.

In the professional ranks, Longino was joined by top performers like Ephraim Mensah (22^nd), Devesh Sarda (23^rd) and Heidi Tyler (32^nd).

"The cool thing about sweepstakes awards is that they celebrate the work of all competitors in that division," Duede said. "This gives all students the ability to feel celebrated for their work even if they didn't always achieve the individual results that they desire.

"Every single win adds up - and we're really lucky to have a consistent squad. Teamwide nearly every single person left at least one tournament with individual recognition, proving that each of them has the potential they need to have a breakaway moment."

As a team, LSUS finished 11^th in the Founders season-long sweepstakes (all levels of individual debate) and 14^th in the Scholastic sweepstakes (all undergraduate individual debate levels and team debate).

A great start for Duede, who joined the program this past summer after being drawn to the LSUS Debate brand because of its team camaraderie.

"The first year has been such an incredible experience," Duede said. "I won't pretend it has been easy - this team has gone through a lot over the course of the year.

"It has been inspiring to watch them show up for each other again and again. I am consistently reminded by these amazing students exactly why I am here and just how much debate can transform lives."

The competitions may be over this season, but the LSUS Debate team has two community events this week.

On Wednesday, the team is hosting a public speaking contest where students can earn up to $250 for their persuasive speeches.

The team has also participated in filming a documentary about LSUS Debate. The first of two episodes will air Friday at 8 p.m. on the KTAL Now app.

The first episode will feature a watch party with the team on campus.