Merritt McGahee, graduate of Alba-Golden, was part of the Tennessee state championship speech and debate team at Belmont University recently.

The Belmont Speech and Debate team won the state title in historic fashion at the Tennessee Intercollegiate Forensics Association state tournament held at Pellissippi State Community College on March 26-27.

The team spent the weekend debating hot topic issues and using their voices to stand up for the disadvantaged.

In all 12 individual events offered at the tournament, Belmont University won seven “Top Novice” awards for first-year competitors and claimed the state championship in 10 of the 12 individual events. No other team in the history of the competition has won that many individual titles.

In total, Belmont totaled 393 points throughout the course of the weekend, with the second highest ranking team only scoring 143 points overall.

This year’s state championship marks the return of the first in-person competition since the beginning of the pandemic. 

McGahee’s awards included the following:

Programmed Oral Interpretation

• Meritt McGahee - 5th place

Duo Interpretation

• Meritt McGahee / Alli Devolve - 2nd place & TOP NOVICE

Prose Interpretation

• Meritt McGahee - 5th place

Top Overall Speaker (pentathlon) Award

• Meritt McGahee - 7th place

Belmont University is located in Nashville, Tenn.