Two of Sacramento State’s top debate teams will go to Pepperdine University on Friday after placing first in the Santa Rosa Junior College Invitational Debate Tournament.

Both teams moved on to the semifinal round after being awarded first and second place in the novice division of policy debate, said Kristen Hamilton Tudor, the director of debate. The teams won the semifinal round, making them co-champions of the tournament, she said.

“It’s pretty rare for two teams from the same school to capture first and second,” Hamilton Tudor said. “It’s called closing out a tournament and it’s not a common thing.”

The teams, which defeated schools such as San Francisco State University and Diablo Valley College, are composed of six debaters.

Included among the debaters are Ramshin Daneshi and Kaitlin Ferrick, who were both undefeated throughout the tournament, Hamilton Tudor said.

“I am very proud of my team,” said Ferrick, a sophomore economics major. “We did very well and were able to close out novice, which means that we didn’t even have to participate in the finals round. Overall, I’m just really impressed with our improvement.”

Other debaters included Laura Hampton, Brooke Boehning, Adrienne Yoseph and Chantel Crane. Yoseph and Crane were awarded second place as junior varsity speakers.

“I’m expecting Pepperdine to be difficult and a bit more challenging,” said Yoseph, a freshman economics and international relations major. “I’m going for an overall record of 3-3. I don’t think we will place but I know we won’t get crushed either.”

The Ray Buchanan Invitational Debate Tournament this Friday is being regarded as one of the toughest tournaments of the season, Hamilton Tudor said.

“It’s going to be the toughest for us because we will be competing against strong teams from across the nation,” Hamilton Tudor said. “We’re going to be competing against everybody from Harvard to a number of Texas teams.”

It’s different because Sac State is used to competing against regional teams not national, Hamilton Tudor said. It should go pretty well considering the Sac State debate teams won the novice portion of the tournament last year, she said.

Ashley Evans can be reached at [email protected]