The Carroll College Talking Saints finished the semester ranked fourth in the nation in parliamentary debate among all colleges of all sizes.

The standings were released by the National Parliamentary Debate Association.

The Saints trail only Washburn, Western Kentucky and Rice in the standings. More than 200 colleges and universities are ranked.

The standings are based on each squad's best four tournaments.

The Saints' success at Linfield College was the second most dominant debate achievement of the season, according the data supplied by NPDA.

At that tournament, Carroll teams finished first and second in open debate, second and third in junior debate, and first in novice debate.

"The team has been working hard and we're very proud of their success," said Talking Saints coach Brent Northup. "And our new assistant coach Marcus Granger has been exceptional in training the new debate teams."

The Talking Saints won a national title in 1999, and have been regularly ranked in the top 10 nationally over the last decade.

Two other top 20 programs are coached by Talking Saints alumni.

Boise State University, ranked eighth, is coached by Manda Hicks, who graduated from Carroll in 1997.

The University of Oregon, ranked 11th, is coached by Aaron Donaldson of Helena, who graduated from Carroll in 2003.

"We're very proud of Aaron and Manda," said Northup. "They are building reputations as two of the finest young coaches in forensics."