The gadget, along with Gmail instructions and an iGoogle button as well is available at The Debate Gadget for Victory Briefs.

Earning School of Excellence awards for holistic squad performance were Sidney Lanier Middle School (Houston, Texas), St. Mary’s Hall (San Antonio, Texas) and Ockerman Middle School (Florence, Kentucky). Earning School of Excellence awards for performance in debate were Sidney Lanier Middle Scool, St. Mary’s Hall, Capitol Debate (Woodstock, Maryland), Woodland Middle School (Brentwood, Tennessee) and Veritas Academy (Austin, Texas). Earning School of Excellence awards for performance in speech events were Sidney Lanier Middle School, St. Mary’s Hall, Ockerman Middle School, St. Andrew’s Episcopal School (Eidgeland, Mississippi) and the Pike School (Andover, Massachusetts).

Champion students in each of the events included:

Policy Debate — Aritra Biswas & Shalina Chatlani — St. Andrew’s Episcopal School (MS)
Student Congress — Alexa Palomo — St. Mary’s Hall (TX)
Lincoln-Douglas (Co-Champions) — Ben Liu and Michael Portal, Sidney Lanier Middle School (TX)
Public Forum — Viveka Advani & Nikita Datta — Capitol Debate (MD)
Prose — Callum Morrison — St. Mary’s Hall (TX)
Poetry — Sahil Bhaiwala — The Pike School (MA)
Humorous Interpretation — Jared Naylor — St. Mary’s Hall (TX)
Dramatic Interpretation — Dane Schnake — Raymore-Peculiar Middle School (MO)
Impromptu — Harry Wood — The Pike School (MA)
Extemporaneous Speaking — Gregory Ross, Sidney Lanier Middle School (TX)
Original Oratory — Caroline Ford — Stonewall Academy
Duo Interpretation — Parker Evans and Bryce Prior — Brentwood Academy

Access the complete results packet.

The NJFL was founded by the National Forensic League in 1995 to extend speech and debate opportunities to students in grades 6-8. Upon enrollment at an National Forensic League member high school, students can convert a fraction of junior merit points earned for speaking activities to high school points toward advanced levels of NFL membership. This creates a great feeder program for high schools, and motivation for students to participate more.

IDEA was established in 1999 to promote mutual understanding and democracy globally by supporting discussion and active citizenship locally. Central to IDEA’s values are tolerance, international cooperation, and freedom of expression. This tournament instills and nurtures in younger students an appreciation for divergent viewpoints and diverse cultures.

The tournament is also planning a policy round robin in New York City; those interested in further details should contact Stefan Bauschard.

The invitation appears below.

—

The Westchester Classic
Lakeland High School

NEW FOR 2009-10: ZERO ENTRY FEES WITH THREE FREE MEALS, EXPANSION TO A 2ND BUILDING, POLICY ROUND ROBIN IN THE CITY, WIRELESS ACCESS FOR ALL PARTICIPANTS, UPDATES VIA TWITTER, FULL AWARDS CEREMONY

You are cordially invited to The 34th Annual Westchester Classic held at Lakeland High School the weekend of February 26th – 28th, 2010. We will offer competition in novice and varsity divisions of Policy, Lincoln-Douglas, and Public Forum debate. We are pleased to announce that a Tournament of Champions bid will once again be awarded to the semifinalists in Policy.

Location: Lakeland High School
Shrub Oak, New York

Dates: February 26h – 28th

Topics:

Policy – The 2009-2010 resolution

Lincoln-Douglas – The January/February resolution

Public Forum – The February topic

Divisions:

Varsity Policy: As mentioned above, a TOC bid will be awarded to the semifinalists of this division. Ordinal mutual preference sheets will be available.

Novice Policy: Regular novice division

Varsity Lincoln-Douglas: Community preference sheets will be available in this division

Novice Lincoln-Douglas: Regular novice division

Varsity and Novice Public Forum

There will be a separate breakout for JV teams competing in the varsity policy and Lincoln-Douglas divisions. This means that those teams marked as eligible for JV, who do not break in the varsity division, will compete in a separate elimination bracket.

ENTRY FEES: THERE ARE ZERO *ENTRY* FEES FOR THIS EVENT. THIS INCLUDES THREE FREE MEALS FOR ALL PARTICIPANTS

Hired judging:

$150/3 rounds of needed commitment
If not hiring, you must supply:
1 judge for every 2 policy teams
1 judge for every 3 LDers
1 judge for every 3 PF participants

Note: You must indicate the judging that you are providing by February 15, 2009. If you have not entered your judges, we will assume that you need to hire judges and we will go about hiring the necessary number of debates. If you then decide to provide your own judging, you must still pay the hiredjudge fee. There is no way for us to otherwise run the tournament, and it is not reasonable for Lakeland Debate to have to pay the costs of your mistakes. You cannot escape this penalty by not attending the tournament – we will send a bill to your principal with an explanation.

DROP FEES:

In order to prevent massive over-registration and last minute dropping for our free tournament, we have instituted drop fees.

$10/person for every person dropped after February 1, 2010
$15/person for every person dropped after February 12, 2010
$25/person for every person dropped after February 22, 2010

There are no fees for substitutions.

Drop fees are due at registration.
Housing:

We offer housing to the first 150 participants who request it. The earlier you get your requests in, the better the chance you will have of acquiring housing.

Note:All housing requests and changes should be made through Joy of Tournaments. Any specific requests, questions, or concerns regarding housing must be directed to Taylor Roth at taylor.h.roth@gmail.com

Lodging:

For coaches, judges, and/or parents, there are hotels in the area.

Peekskill Inn: This is the best value in the immediate area. More information can be found at their website. http://www.peekskillinn.com/

There are additional hotels in Newburgh — about 30 minutes.
http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&=&q=hotels+newburgh+new+york&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&safe=active

Airports:

The closest airports are Newburgh (30 minutes) and Westchester (25 minutes), but LaGuardia, JFK, and Newark are within driving distance (1 (Laguardia, Newark) - 2 hours (JFK)).

Policy Schedule

Please note that at this time the details of this schedule are tentative because the middle school releases one hour later than the high school. While we know that varsity policy will be held in the high school, the exact number of participants registered in the other events will determine what building they are held in.
Friday, February 27th:
12:30-2 pm Registration
2:45pm Round 1 (pairings at 2:15)
— ALL coaches (including those not judging) must cease coaching by 2:40
— ballots due by 5pm
5:15 pm Round 2
— ALL coaches (including those not judging) must cease coaching by 5:10
— ballots due by 7:30
(EAT DINNER BETWEEN THE END OF ROUND 2 AND THE START OF ROUND 3! IT IS FREE IN THE CAFETERIA)
8:15 pm Round 3
— ALL coaches (including those not judging) must cease coaching by 8:10
— ballots due by 10:30
10 pm Housing in auditorium

Saturday, February 28th:
8 am Round 4 (pairings at 7:00am)
– ALL coaches (including those not judging) must cease coaching by 7:55
— ballots due by 10:15
11 am Round 5
– ALL coaches (including those not judging) must cease coaching by 10:55
— ballots due by 1:15
2 pm Round 6
– ALL coaches (including those not judging) must cease coaching by 1:55
— ballots due by 4:15
5 pm Octos (soph breakout quarters) (soph breakout semis; 7pm — soph breakout finals)
– ALL coaches (including those not judging) must cease coaching by 4:55
— ballots due by 7:15
8 pm Quarters
– ALL coaches (including those not judging) must cease coaching by 7:55
— ballots due by 10:15

Note: We will finish both novice and varsity Lincoln-Douglas and Public Forum on Saturday. We also intend to finish the JV breakout and novice policy on Saturday as well.

Sunday, March 1st

Semifinals and Finals in varsity policy — 8 & 11am

L-D & PF Schedule

Friday, February 27th:
12:30-2 pm Registration
3 pm Round 1 (pairings at 2:15)

5 pm Round 2

8 pm Round 3

10 pm Housing in auditorium

Saturday, February 28th:
8 am Round 4 (pairings at 7:00am)

11am Round 5

2 pm Octos (PF quarters)

5 pm Quarters (PF semis)

7pm Semis (PF finals)

8pm Finals

– ALL coaches (including those not judging) must cease coaching by 7:55
— ballots due by 10:15

Note: We will finish both novice and varsity Lincoln-Douglas and Public Forum on Saturday. We also intend to finish the JV breakout and novice policy on Saturday as well.

Sunday, March 1st

Semifinals and Finals in varsity policy — 8 & 11am

We have a very well-run, well-judged, and competitive tournament. Attendants last year had nothing but complimentary things to say in terms of the quality and hospitality of our tournament. We hope you will consider joining us.

Registration will be made available online through the Joy of Tournaments. If you have any questions, except those regarding housing, feel free to contact Stefan Bauschard at Stefan Bauschard AT gmail DOT com.

“This February,” the letter explains, “we will enhance and improve the tournament in many ways both large and small. Many of these improvements originated with our friends in the LD community, and we thank each and every one of you who contacted us directly with constructive suggestions.”

The complete letter is available here on VBD.

—
Greetings Lincoln-Douglas Debaters & Coaches:

We write with exciting news about the Harvard LD tournament. This February we will enhance and improve the tournament in many ways both large and small. Many of these improvements originated with our friends in the LD community, and we thank each and every one of you who contacted us directly with constructive suggestions. We will always welcome them.

The improvements we anticipate for 2010 fall into four broad categories: judge assignment, tournament administration, tournament venue, and a completely new competition. We are also introducing a new traveling championship trophy for the tournament proper.

Judge assignment. Starting in 2010, Harvard will employ a system of “community preferences” with a limited number of strikes for each debater whose school’s judges have posted their judge paradigms to the wiki. This system allows all of you to provide a community assessment of who the preferred judges are; we will in turn assign those best judges to the most critical rounds. To those who came to judge last year and felt they were neglected, we humbly apologize, and ask for you to give this new system a chance.

Administration. The ballot desk will for the first time be run by members of the Harvard Debate Council directly responsible to our coaching staff for their demeanor. The triple-octafinals will be double-flighted with separate panels for varsity and JV. Results, perhaps even written ballots, will be posted after each round, and the elimination bracket will be released at the end of prelims.

Venue. We are doing our best to provide a suitably furnished and private space for each debate. Room reservations cannot be finalized for months yet, but our hope is to move LD back to the main campus, with ample judge hospitality space in Boylston Hall, and easy access to all the transportation and amenities of Harvard Square.

First Annual Harvard Lincoln-Douglas Round Robin. We have secured space in the Student Organization Center at Hilles (the venue for last year’s tournament) in which to host an LD round robin tournament prior to the invitational. It is our hope that this tournament will attract the very best debaters from around the nation. We are consulting our friends in the LD community on such questions as size, schedule, who to invite, etc., and will have further details presently.

The Jacob Morris Nebel Award. The Bronx High School of Science, which won the 2009 tournament in both LD and policy debate, is donating a new traveling trophy in Lincoln-Douglas debate that will match the splendor of the existing policy trophy. The trophy will be awarded to the champion in LD debate. Bronx Science has moved to name this award in honor of Trinity Preparatory School’s Jake Nebel, who debated the varsity final round an unprecedented three times. He was champion in 2008 and placed second in both 2007 and 2009; in addition, he was champion of the JV tournament in 2006.

Everyone at Harvard Debate is committed to doing whatever is necessary to keep the tournament a truly world class event. We hope and believe that these changes will go a long way towards doing so. Your input and suggestions are most welcome.

Sincerely,

Dallas Perkins
Sherry Hall
Coaches of Debating

Minh A. Luong
Elizabeth Brannen
LD Tournament Directors

Geoff Smith
Team Captain

iDebate can be downloaded by clicking here. Many thanks to Dan for putting so much effort into this program and giving it away — for free — to the debate community.

In each installment of “Ask Cruz,” I answer questions about debate trivia. You may post your questions in the comments section, or you may shoot me an e-mail. It’s been a while, but I’m back in gear to do a regular column, so please do submit those questions.

Marc Wallach asks, “When was the last time a person who did not clear at the TOC win the National Championship?”

This year’s National Champion, Shivani Vohra, is the first National Champion since Adam Chilton in 2003 to win Nationals while not clearing at the TOC the same year. However, Shivani did clear as a junior. Interestingly, at the TOC as a junior, she was defeated by Trinity Prep’s Jake Nebel in the octafinals, whom she defeated in finals this year at Nationals.

Danny Prikazsky asks, “Which person has had the best performance at TOC and Nationals across events?”

Bellarmine’s Will Rafey was runner-up this year in policy debate at the TOC — with partner Sagar Vijay — and also runner-up at Nationals in International Extemporaneous Speaking, demonstrating a rather incredible range of rhetorical and analytical skills.

The only more impressive performance across events that comes to mind was in 1988; Jonathan Koppell of Bronx Science closed out the TOC with teammate Peter Colavito, and won Student Congress (House of Representatives) at Nationals that June.

Daniel Fabrizio asks, “Seven Lincoln-Douglas debaters from Walt Whitman attended the TOC this year. Is this the all-time record?”

Scarsdale High School holds the all-time record, having qualified an incredible nine debaters to the 2007 Tournament of Champions: Matt Aks, Neil Basu, Andrew Harris, Ken Hershey, Nikita Lalwani, Marcus Moretti, Matt Salant, Kyle Tatz, and Adrevan Yaghoubi. I’ve told this anecdote before, but I can’t help telling it again: Joe Vaughan referred to this as his “baseball team,” but I, being illiterate in all matters sports-related, didn’t really get it. He kindly explained the reference before I even indicated that I didn’t get it. (I’m quoting this verbatim from an old “Ask Cruz” because even I laugh when reading it.) Congratulations to all nine debaters, and to coach Joe Vaughan!

Walt Whitman High School’s enormous delegation of seven Lincoln-Douglas debaters — Perry Green, Jane Kessner, Ben Lewis, Emily Massey, Ellen Noble, Stefanie Rohde, David Winer — makes for the second-largest number of Lincoln-Douglas debaters qualified in a single season. Congratulations to all seven Walt Whitman debaters, and to coach Anjan Choudhury, as well as Stephanie Caravias, Tanya Choudhury, Elyse Lyons, and Todd Liipfert!

Only one other school has ever qualified seven debaters in a single season: Regis High School. In fact, Regis did it twice. Prior to Scarsdale, Regis held the all-time record thanks to its season-long performance in both 1991 and 1994.

In 1991, Regis qualified Kramer Campen, Vijay Culas, Bill Harrington, Thomas Downey, John Kulvicki, Timothy O’Reilly, and Christopher Timmel. This was matched in 1994, when Regis qualified Rob Alcala, Steve Boykewich, Dave Czuchdewski, Brian FitzGerald, John Kuhner, Andy Murray, and Michael Sclafani. Congratulations to both sets of debaters and to coach Eric Di Michele!

“Chris Theis, who won last year as a junior, won the TOC this year as well. Have any other juniors won the TOC? Did they go on to win it a second time?”

As most of our readers know, Chris Theis is the first Lincoln-Douglas debater ever to win the National High School Tournament of Champions twice.

Chris became only the second junior ever to win the TOC when he claimed the title last year. Previously, Michael Erickson of La Cueva High School was the only junior TOC champion. He won in 1992, defeating fellow junior Jason Baldwin of Vestavia Hills High School. Baldwin, of course, returned to win the tournament in ‘93. (Erickson cleared as a senior, but dropped in the octafinal round.)

Josh Vanderslice asks, “How often has a TOC champion continued to debate in college?”

Hetal Doshi was affiliated with the Barkley Forum — Emory University’s policy debate program — after her 1997 TOC championship.

Valley High School’s Ari Simon, the 1998 TOC champion, competed in parliamentary debate for Yale; Greenhill School’s David Wolfish, the 2005 TOC champion, has done the same for UPenn. These schools compete on the APDA (American Parliamentary Debate Association) circuit. 2003 TOC champion Andrew Garvin, who debated for Mission San Jose High School, competed briefly for Berkeley on the NPDA (National Parliamentary Debate Association) circuit.

David Kennedy won the TOC for Regis High School in 1989 and won APDA for Harvard — with partner Chris Harris — in 1992. While he is the only TOC champion to take that title, Lincoln-Douglas debaters have found a considerable amount of success in this arena. Among the other notable top debaters who won APDA are Shenendehowa High School’s Liz Rogers, Isidore Newman School’s Justin Osofsky, and Valley High School’s Brian Fletcher, who won the title for UPenn in 1996, for Harvard in 1998, and for Yale in 2001, respectively. More recently, Regis High School’s David Denton won for Yale in 2007, Walt Whitman High School’s Michael Baer in 2008. (All of these champions won with partners, as parliamentary debate is a two-person activity.)

And that’s just to name a few.

It should also be noted that Josh Anderson, who was top speaker at the TOC, won the national championship of the NPDA and the title of the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence with partner Rachel Safran in 2006.

Chris Theis informs me he will not be debating in college.

Joey Yagoda asks, “It seems as though there have been a lot of NFL/TOC crossover success stories, yet we haven’t really heard about NCFL/TOC crossover stories recently. Are there any recent examples?”

The NCFL has less of an organized institutional memory than the University of Kentucky (for the TOC) and the National Forensic League (for Nationals), so it’s difficult for me to say for certain. But, as many long-time readers know, I’ve labored to put together as complete a list of NCFL champions in Lincoln-Douglas debate as possible.

Regis High School’s David Kennedy is the only person to win both the TOC and the NCFL. He accomplished this in 1989.

Shenendehowa High School’s Liz Rogers was the 1994 NCFL Champion and was in quarterfinals of the TOC the same year.

Past champions Jeremi Suri of Stuyvesant High School (1990), Ben Rothstein of Milton Academy (2001), and Tara Tedrow of Celebration High School (2005). (Tedrow is the only person ever to win the NCFL twice in Lincoln-Douglas debate — she did this in 2004 and 2005 — but cleared at the TOC her senior year only.)

There are also some non-champions who placed well at both. Here are a few of them.

2006 National Champion Douglas Jeffers of Dulles High School was in finals of the NCFL as a junior and in semifinals of the TOC as a senior. (He won NFL Nationals as a senior.) Jude Volek of the Bronx High School of Science was runner-up at the NCFL in 1999 and in quarterfinals of the TOC the same year.

This year’s NCFL runner-up, Ben Lewis of Walt Whitman High School, was also an octafinalist at the TOC.

Phelan O’Neill asks, “Who sits on the current TOC Advisory Committee in Lincoln-Douglas debate? made up the original TOC Advisory Committee in LD?”

Current members of the TOC Advisory Committee in Lincoln-Douglas debate are Mike Bietz of Harvard-Westlake School, Mike Burton of Eastside Catholic High School, George Clemens of Lake Highland Preparatory School, Wesley Craven of South Eugene High School, Jon Cruz of the Bronx High School of Science, Lexy Green of College Preparatory School, Kandi King of Winston Churchill High School, Dave McGinnis of Valley High School, Tom Rollins of the Potomac School, Aaron Timmons of Greenhill School, Joe Vaughan of Scarsdale High School, and Pam Cady Wycoff of Apple Valley High School.

The original TOC Advisory Committee in Lincoln-Douglas debate was constituted in 1986.

Its members were Tim Averill of Manchester High School (now Manchester Essex Regional High School), Patricia A. Bailey of Homewood High School, Sandra Berkowitz of Monticello High School, Michael Busjahn of Valley High School, Ken Clark of Twenty-Nine Palms High School, Eric Di Michele of Regis High School, Glenda Ferguson of Heritage Hall School, Dale McCall of Twin Lakes High School, Laurel Moore, Virginia O’Keefe of T.A. Edison High School, Sharon Pennell of Wautaga High School, Julie Sheinman of Stuyvesant High School, Terrance M. Shuman of Bishop LeBlond Memorial High School, Bonnita Stahlberg of South Eugene High School, Richard B. Sodikow of the Bronx High School of Science, Billy Tate of Montgomery Bell Academy, and Lisa Tobin of Albany High School.

—
Jon Cruz is still attempting to compile complete results for the 1986 Tournament of Champions, and isn’t embarrassed to admit that he spent a combined two hours of free time today digging through the archives to do so.

Dave Yastremski, the director of the University School Forensics Team, agreed to be interviewed for the second installment of “Across America.”

FOUNDED: 1967
FOUNDERS: “Per our yearbooks, Ridge had a forensics team from 1967-1971 with two different advisors: McHugh and Vogel. As for the current program, I started the current version program in 1998. At that time, we had five students — four interpers and one extemper — today we had 83 active members.”

PRESENT DIRECTOR: David Yastremski
PAST AND PRESENT DIRECTORS AND ASSISTANT COACHES: “Assistant Coaches that have worked with the team in that time include [the following].”

Cara Restaino — 2007-present (Assistant Director)
Jason Wood — 2000-present (Speech)
Laurie Johnson — 2001-present (LD & PF)
Dario Camara — 2002-2007 (LD)
Sarah Villar — 2005-2009 (Speech)
Charlie Furman — 2007-present (LD)
Chrissy Kugel — 2007-2008 (PF)
Marta Abel ‘03 — 2008-2009 (LD)
Marsha Moroni — 2008-present (Financial Manager)
Kathy Stout ‘03 — 2008-present (Speech)

EVENTS: Lincoln-Douglas debate, Public Forum debate, all Individual Events

How do you recruit new students at the beginning of each season?

We begin recruiting during the Activity Night for incoming freshmen. After that we have a series of meetings that parents and interested students can attend. We then hold auditions during the last week of September.

What makes speech and debate at your program special?

I’m not sure what you’re looking for with this one…we have amazing support from our community and administration. Each year, I hear from coaches who have to jump hurdles to just to attend tournaments. Our program has been able to grow due to the overwhelming motivation and support of our Superintendent, Principal, Board of Education, and administration. In addition, our parents and students are committed to relentless fundraising to continue offering travel and competition opportunities. It really is a community-sponsored program!

Are there any recent accomplishments about which your team is particularly proud

While we are indebted to those students who individually perform well at the national level, we’re proud of the team awards at NCFL and NFL — especially because they recognize the full scope of the program in all genres. This particular year, we had tournament champions at several nationally-ranked tournaments, and they were by different students in different events. We also enjoyed an very motivated novice group this year; I personally am proud to see the new generation come in so strong. We’re also in line for the Karl Mundt Award in Congress at this year’s NFL — again, recognizing the longevity of our Congress program.

STUDENT TESTIMONIAL: Varun Jayaraman, captain for the 2009-2010 season explains that tThe Ridge Forensics team is probably more of a family than anything. There isn’t really a divide between speech and debate. Mr. Yastremski definitely stresses the educational value of forensics; anyone who has heard his pep talks before major tournaments can attest to that. That’s definitely why Ridge Forensics will have a lasting effect on me. We value the skills learned from forensics, rather than the trophies.”

On Sunday January 10, 2010, the National Public Forum Challenge III will take place. This will again be a by-application-only tournament featuring sixteen Public Forum teams. Team will compete in “Challenge” rounds where the winners pick their opponents for the $1500 scholarship offered to the finalists!

Information about the Laird Lewis can be found by clicking here; information about the Challenge can be found here.

Governor Tim Pawlenty is expected to certify the Franken’s 312-vote margin of victory sometime later today.

This electoral victory gives the Democratic Party its sixtieth seat in the United States Senate.

(It is my ongoing project to ensure an institutional memory for Lincoln-Douglas debate. I have been carefully organizing, transcribing, and digitizing materials I have been finding in the Chellgren Center Debate Office at the University of Kentucky and that have been donated to me by R.J. Pellicciotta. My thanks to R.J. and to Linda Barker, J.W. Patterson, and Roger Solt for their assistance!)

Brian was coached by Nick Nelsen and Bryce Pashler; Cherian was coached by Pam Cady.

—
LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE

SEXTODECIMOS
(1) Apple Valley CK def. (32) Chapel Hill KZ (Kathy Zeisel)
(2) Scarsdale AL def. (31) New Orleans Jesuit JM (Justin Massa)
(3) Edmond North NN def. (30) Bettendorf CW (Cyndy Woodhouse)
(4) Miami Palmetto LS def. (29) Bronx Sciecne DD (Dennis Dozis)
(28) San Antonio Lee RC def. (5) Bergenfield AB (Abdul Beretay)
(6) Valley BF def. (27) Newman Smith AV (Andrew Vaden)
(26) Hillsborough ML def. (7) Jenks AG (Ajay Gupta)
(8) Apple Valley LH def. (25) LaGrange MH (Mac Hawkins)
(9) Vestavia Hills HD def. (24) Valley PH (Paige Herwig)
(23) Clark CM def. (10) Homewood ES (Eleanna Smith)
(22) Greenhill MW def. (11) Apple Valley ML (Melanie LaComb)
(12) Isidore Newman AM def. (21) Saint James AM (Anna Manasco)
(20) Vestavia Hills MM def. (13) Hopkins SZ (Sage Zaheer)
(19) Houston Memorial BS def. (14) Taylor AC (Anjan Choudhury)
(18) Chapel Hill AK def. (15) Des Moines Roosevelt SD (Stephen Davis)
(16) Isidore Newman DL def. (17) Grapevine KC (Kevin Cook)

OCTAS
(1) Apple Valley CK def. (16) Isidore Newman DL (Derek Lam)
(18) Chapel Hill AK def. (2) Scarsdale AL (Ami Lourie)
(3) Edmond North NN def. (19) Houston Memorial BS (Barry Schiffman)
(20) Vestavia Hills MM def. (4) Miami Palmetto LS (Louise Sandberg)
(28) San Antonio Lee RC def. (12) Isidore Newman AM (Adam Magnus)
(6) Valley BF def. (22) Greenhill MW (Marc Wallenstein)
(26) Hillsborough ML def. (23) Clark CM (Caleb McDaniel)
(8) Apple Valley LH def. (9) Vestavia Hills HD (Hetal Doshi)

QUARTERS
(1) Apple Valley CK over (8) Apple Valley LH (Leah Halvorson)
(18) Chapel Hill AK def. (26) Hillsborough ML (Michael Ledford)
(6) Valley BF def. (3) Edmond North NN (Neelesh Nerukar)
(20) Vestavia Hills MM def. (28) San Antonio Lee RC (Ryan Cunningham)

SEMIS
(1) Apple Valley CK def. (20) Vestavia Hills MM (Michelle Myers)
(6) Valley BF def. (18) Chapel Hill AK (Allon Kedem)

FINALS
(6) Valley BF def. (1) Apple Valley CK (Cherian Koshy)

CHAMPION
(6) Valley BF (Brian Fletcher)

—
TOP SPEAKERS
1. Abdul Beretay — Bergenfield High School (NJ)
2. Brian Fletcher — Valley High School (IA)
3. Ajay Gupta — Jenks High School (OK)
4. Caleb McDaniel — Clark High School (TX)
5. Cherian Koshy — Apple Valley High School (MN)
6. Paige Herwig — Valley High School (IA)
7. Mac Hawkins — LaGrange High School (LA)
8. Michael Ledford — Hillsborough High School (FL)
9. Ami Lourie — Scarsdale High School (NY)
10. Leah Halvorson — Apple Valley High School (MN)
11. Andrew Vaden — Newman Smith High School (TX)
12. Ryan Cunningham — San Antonio Lee High School (TX)
13. Hetal Doshi — Vestavia Hills High School (AL)
14. Neelesh Nerurkar — Edmond North High School (OK)
15. Eleanna Smith — Homewood High School (AL)
16. Dennis Dozis — The Bronx High School of Science (NY)
17. Erin Limkowitz — Clark High School (TX)
18. Melanie LaComb — Apple Valley High School (MN)
19. Cyndy Woodhouse — Bettendorf High School (IA)
20. Adam Magnus — Isidore Newman High School (LA)

—
PAST GLENBROOKS RESULTS ON VBD

Coming soon.

A ballot can be downloaded from the National Forensic League web site.

All three are passionately dedicated to the activity in which we participate and all three are incredibly kind and friendly folks. Please join me in wishing them a happy birthday!

Registration will take place at Joy of Tournaments.

Last year, hundreds of students from over twenty states competed in the tournament’s four competitions — Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Team Debate (policy), Public Forum Debate, and Legislative Debate (Student Congress) — where they vied for handsome awards and top honors at one of the national circuit’s oldest events.

Last year, Bronx Science had a bid to the TOC at the quarterfinal round in Lincoln-Douglas Debate and Public Forum Debate, at the semifinal round in Team Debate, and at the top six level for Legislative Debate.

The champion in Lincoln-Douglas Debate receives the Richard B. Sodikow Award; the top speaker receives the Peter Colavito Award. Sodikow founded the Bronx Science program in 1969 and established the New York City Invitational at Bronx Science shortly thereafter. Colavito was one-half of the only close-out in the history of the TOC. (The top speaker at the Bronx Round Robin receives the Jonathan Koppell Award, completing the close-out.) Colavito also won a number of other major competitions including the Malcolm A. Bump Memorial Tournament and the Wake Forest National Earlybird.

The champions in Team Debate receive the Big Bronx Bowl; the top speaker receives the Eric C. Raps Memorial Award. The award is named in the memory of Raps, who reached the final round of the TOC in 1978. (He was valedictorian of his class at Bronx Science and graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University.)

The champions in Public Forum Debate receive the David Yalof Trophy, who achieved considerable success across the forensic events in the 1980s. He was the 1984 National Champion in Lincoln-Douglas. The top speaker is recognized with the Gloria Cabada-Leman Award. Cabada was a top policy debater and extemporaneous speaker in high school, and later became the top speaker at the National Debate Tournament in college.

Finally, the champion in Legislative Debate receives the Joseph Giovannelli Grand Gavel. Giovannelli was a policy debater who — with his partner Andy Gelber — reached the finals of the Barkley Forum for High Schools and won the Wake Forest National Earlybird; at his final tournament, he became the first Bronx Science competitor to achieve significant success in Student Congress by placing second at the 1974 NCFL Grand National Tournament.

Pictured is the demonstration round of the 1992 Montgomery Bell Academy Round Robin, in which senior Bronx Science’s James Mallios debated Vestavia Hills’s Jason Baldwin. That year, Mallios, a senior, placed first; Baldwin, a junior, placed second.

(I’m returning to my ongoing project of insuring an institutional memory for Lincoln-Douglas debate, in which I have been carefully organizing, transcribing, and digitizing materials I have been finding in the Chellgren Center Debate Office at the University of Kentucky and that have been donated to me by R.J. Pellicciotta. My thanks to R.J. and to Linda Barker, J.W. Patterson, and Roger Solt for their assistance!)

Courtney was coached by Nick Nelsen; David was coached by Pam Cady.

—
(17) Vestavia Hills MM (Michelle Myers)

OCTAS
(1) Christopher Columbus JC def. (16) Cedar Hill KP (Katie Pollock)
(2) College Prep AP def. (15) Coral Gables NN (Newman Nahas)
(3) McQuaid Jesuit JM def. (14) Vestavia Hills TW (Tyrenda Williams)
(4) Apple Valley LH def. (13) Hopkins MM (Maya Mikhailov)
(12) Regis DB def. (5) Saint James JC (Jonathan Carr)
(6) Winston Churchill DS def. (11) Grapevine TS (Tejal Shah)
(10) Apple Valley DS def. (7) Clark CM (Caleb McDaniel)
(8) Valley CB def. (9) Vestavia Hills HD (Hetal Doshi)

QUARTERS
(8) Valley CB def. (1) Christopher Columbus JC (John Couriel)
(10) Apple Valley DS def. (2) College Prep AP (A.C. Padian)
(3) McQuaid Jesuit JM def. (6) Winston Churchill DS (Derek Smith)
(12) Regis DB def. (4) Apple Valley LH (Leah Halvorson)

SEMIS
(8) Valley CB def. (12) Regis DB (David Browne)
(10) Apple Valley DS def. (3) McQuaid Jesuit JM (John Morrison)

FINALS
(8) Valley CB def. (10) Apple Valley DS (David Singh)

TOC CHAMPION
(8) Valley CB (Courtney Ballentine)

—
TOP SPEAKERS
1. Jonathan Carr — St. James School (AL) [Walter Alan Ulrich Award]
2. Derek Smith — Winston Churchill High School (TX)
3. John Couriel — Christopher Columbus High School (FL)
4. Caleb McDaniel — Clark High School (TX)
5. Michelle Myers — Vestavia Hills High School (AL)
6. Courtney Ballentine — Valley High School (IA)
7. Hetal Doshi — Vestavia Hills High School (AL)
8. David Singh — Apple Valley High School (MN)
9. Beau Gratzer — Taylor High School (TX)
10. Nathan Foy — Saint James School (AL)
11. Michael Edwards — College Preparatory School (CA)
12. Brian Fletcher — Valley High School (IA)
13. Lori Calvasina — The Montgomery Academy (AL)
14. Allison Snow — Vestavia Hills High School (AL)
15. Anjan Choudhury — Taylor High School (TX)

—
PAST TOC RESULTS ON VBD
1986 | Hee-Sun Hong — The Bronx High School of Science (NY)
1987 | Scott Tucker — Twin Lakes High School (NY)
1988 | Jonathan Koppell & Peter Colavito, The Bronx High School of Science (NY)
1989 | David Kennedy — Regis High School (NY)
1990 | Chris Keller — Tampa Jesuit High School (FL)
1991 | Jeff Marcus — Miami Palmetto High School (FL)
1992 | Michael Erickson — La Cueva High School (NM)
1993 | Jason Baldwin — Vestavia Hills High School (AL)
1994 | Ann Miura — Palo Alto High School (CA)
1995 | Greg Goldfarb — Miami Palmetto High School (FL)
1996 | Courtney Ballentine — Valley High School (IA)
1997 | Hetal Doshi — Vestavia Hills High School (AL)
1998 | Ari Simon — Valley High School (IA)
1999 | Tom Zimpleman — Valley High School (IA)
2000 | Seamus Donovan — Edmond North High School (OK)
2001 | Tom Pryor — Hopkins High School (MN)
2002 | Jenn Larson — Millard West High School (NE)
2003 | Andrew Garvin — Mission San Jose High School (CA)
2004 | John McNeil — Edina High School (MN)
2005 | David Wolfish — Greenhill School (TX)
2006 | Stephen Hess — Mountain View High School (CA)
2007 | Patrick Diehl — Lynbrook High School (CA)
2008 | Chris Theis — Apple Valley High School (MN)
2009 | Chris Theis — Apple Valley High School (MN)

I’d also like to invite you to announce any new hires you’re ready to publicize here on VBD. (And a preemptive congratulations to those hired!)

Former LD debater Pam Brown and Austin Kase are the tournament directors; Marc Wallach is coordinating the hired judges. (He is also seeking out judges in the Northeast who would like to judge. If interested, be sure to contact him!) Chris Palmer is coordinating tabulation; please contact him with general questions.

The Yale Invitational will take place on October 2, 3, and 4, 2009. The tournament invitation is available on Tabroom.com.

Steven Schappaugh, the director of the University School Forensics Team, agreed to be interviewed for the second installment of “Across America.”

FOUNDED: 1983
FOUNDER: Presently Unknown

PRESENT DIRECTOR: Steven Schappaugh
PAST AND PRESENT ASSISTANT COACHES:

Chris Wilgos (assistant coach for Interpretation), Ernie Rose (Lincoln-Douglas debate consultant), David Kraft (Interpretation consultant), Mitch Blenden (Student Congress consultant), and Jenny Cook. “[Cook] currently is the Director of Arts for University School and is a full-time administrator in that capacity,” Schappaugh notes. “We are fortunate that she still makes time to work with kids.”

“We are in the process of hiring another assistant coach who will work in the school and be an Interpretation coach, but we are also in the midst of lining up public speaking, Interpretation and Public Forum Consultants for next year as well,” he adds. “Anyone interested can contact me via e-mail and if anyone is in the Miami area and interesting in helping start a policy program they should also feel free to contact me.”

Past Directors of Forensics include Jenny Cook, Dean Brooks, and Brent Pesola. “I do not recall or know who was in charge of the program prior to Brent Pesola,” notes Schappaugh. “My understanding from others in the school is that Brent restarted and revitalized the program and brought it to national prominence.”

EVENTS: “University School does all of the NFL main events with the exception of policy debate; however, we’d like to start policy debate soon. We also participate in Oral Interpretation, Declamation, Group Interp and Impromptu through the CFL and FFL Leagues.”

How do you recruit new students at the beginning of each season?

At the start of the season there is a clubs fair for all students in the school - it’s part of the 9-12 orientation process. At this fair we have a booth with pictures, trophies and team information. I staff the booth with older students so that they can reach out to students and if they express interest they give us their email address and Advisory in the school. Not only that, but we make announcements so that kids know they can come to our meetings at anytime and put posters around at the start of the year. Another great thing at our school is that we have faculty members who are actively suggesting kids to try Forensics and I get emails from teachers with names or I have kids who show up and say that a teacher sent them. Finally, one of the biggest assets is getting team members to actively recruit kids that they are associated with who they think would be positive contributors to the program.

What makes speech and debate at your program special?

We are fortunate to have a growing squad and despite the increase in numbers there is still a family feel to the entire program. Students are given important leadership positions on the team to help make decisions, meet goals and expand opportunities for every kid who does speech and debate. We travel to many tournaments, bring in top-notch people to work with the students and have high expectations in all that we do. It certainly helps that we have an unbelievably supportive administration — from Jenny Cook as our Director of the Arts to the Upper School Director and all the way to the top with our Headmaster.

Are there any recent accomplishments about which your team is particularly proud

This year our team won the State Public Speaking Commendation and was the Manatee NFL District Sweepstakes Award winner. We are also proud of the tournament that we started (the Sunvitational, which will be held this coming season on January 8 and 9, 2010) and the success in numbers in terms of attendees, TOC bid status and out-of-state interest that has been created.

STUDENT TESTIMONIAL: Josh March, co-captain for the 2009-2010 season explains, “Being a member of the University School Forensics Team has been a fantastic experience for me. I have grown both as a participant and team leader, learning invaluable skills that have been helpful to me in all areas of my life. As a varsity extemporaneous speaker, I’ve learned how to think independently and critically about world events and to respond quickly and thoroughly to questions about current events. The team is like a second family, where everyone supports each other and shares in each others wins and losses. We have grown close as both teammates and friends. We have participated in increasingly challenging tournaments across the country as the team and have grown with the tremendous support of our school and coaches. Our efforts have met with increasing success across areas of competition. We have phenomenol coaches that both lead us to challenge ourselves and help us develop our own skills and individual styles. Their personal time and dedication leads us all to share the same level of commitment.”

“The thing I love about the University School Forensics Team is that it truly is a team, and every member is passionate about what he or she does,” adds Matthew Seely, incoming co-captain. “Not only do we support each other at tournaments, but we also support each other in class or in the halls at school. We also have team bonding nights where we all go out as a team just to have fun. At University School, we are more of a forensics family than a team. We work every year to build our program and get as many kids involved as possible.

“I compete in speech events, particularly Duo and HI,” he continues. “What I love about Duo is that it forces character development. You can’t just count on lines to make a character, because half of your performance is a reaction to your partner. Another thing I love about duo is that you’re never alone; you always have your partner in rounds. However, the more tournaments I go to, the more people I meet. Now I find myself walking into HI rounds at national tournaments and I’m almost always able to identify at least one of my fellow competitors. I got into forensics to improve my public speaking, but I stay in it because of the friends I’ve made around the country.”

PHOTOGRAPH: The University School Team takes a photo after their State Tournament successes — Sweepstakes Champions in Public Speaking, runners-up in Interpretation and third place overall, a first-time ranking in overall sweepstakes for the team.

“This year, we have moved the tournament to a new weekend, February 13-14,” the invitation explains. “We are aiming to offer an uniquely on-time, affordable, and quality competition on this weekend. We have early commitments to attend from schools from throughout the Northeast, as well as Virginia, the Carolinas, and Florida. The LBC is a great opportunity to visit our beautiful city, and to find out what our university has to offer students. Finally, all proceeds from the tournament go to promote urban high school debate programs in Philadelphia, thus staying within the high school forensics community.”

Click here to access the invitation.

Only one other school has ever had two National Champions in Lincoln-Douglas debate. No other school has ever had three consecutive finalists. (In this case, National Champion Taarini Vohra in 2007, runner-up Joan Gass in 2008, and National Champion Shivani Vohra in 2009.) And, as you might have guessed, no other family has produced two Lincoln-Douglas debate National Champions.

The only other school to have National Champions in Lincoln-Douglas debate is Vestavia Hills High School. Claire Carman won the title in 1994; Allison Picket won the title in 1998. They were coached by Marilee Dukes. (Carman — now Claire Carman Redding — was one of the judges in today’s final round.)

Shivani is coached by Stacy Thomas, Tom Evnen, and Andy Werner; Jake Nebel is coached by Petey Gil-Montllor, Michael Vigars, Dean Rhoads, and Darcy Butrimas.

The critics for the final round were Craig Austin of Centennial High School in California, Stan Austin of Wheaton North in Illinois, Rick Farrar of Lincoln Financial Group, Vicki Fellers of Wichita East High School in Kansas, Victor Jih of the Brentwood School in California, Bill Jordan of Glendale High School in Missouri, 1988 National Champion Anoop Mishra (formerly of Homewood High School in Alabama), the aforementioned 1994 National Champion Claire Carman Redding (formerly of Vestavia Hills High School in Alabama), Jeff Roberts of Mountain Brook High School in Alabama, Michael Traas of Appleton East in Wisconsin, David Watkins of Neosho High School in Missouri, David Wozniak of Lincoln Financial Group, and Pam Cady Wycoff of Apple Valley High School in Minnesota.

I am in the process of compiling the names of all the award winners.

VBI SESSION I RESOLUTIONS:
The Victory Briefs curricular directors have met and decided the camp topics for VBI 2009, Session I and Week 3.

At Session I, the camp topic will be:

Resolved: it is just for highly indebted poor countries to repudiate their debt.

Although not mandatory, students attending camp are strongly encouraged to write cases before coming to camp. We chose this topic for a variety of reasons that we believe will enhance the camp experience. First, it’s a very interesting, literature-rich subject area that’s not often discussed. There is an international relations dimension, a economic justice dimension, and varying philosophical considerations. Second, it’s a big topic, so it is not likely to get stale. Third, it is a great opportunity for debaters to really focus on framework debates over “It is just” since so many topics tend to invite that discussion. Debaters can talk about traditional social contract notions of justice; can explore justice between countries; can discuss the conditions for a “just” contract—what makes a contract enforceable or not; and more importantly, resolve competing frameworks for justice.

The Week 3 topic will be:

Resolved: economic sanctions ought not be used to achieve foreign policy objectives.

Similarly, students attending camp are encouraged to write cases before coming to Third Week. The focus of third week is on skills, so having advance work completed will be helpful.

THOUGHTS ON THE RESOLUTIONS

To start, there are a few topics that I hope do not end up being selected for debate. I base this on two over-arching considerations. FIRST, in choosing topics, it is critical that we differentiate the “subject matter” from the “actual wording of the resolution.” I like the subjects of all ten topics, but there are a few whose wording present problems for debate. SECOND, to prevent incoherent debate, it is important to understand how the issue is discussed/debated/addressed in real life, and whether the wording of the resolution is consistent with that, and whether that discussion is a values discussion. If not, the debates on that topic will end up incoherent—through no fault of the debaters—or un-resolvable within an LD framework.

The four I do not like are:

Resolved: Governments have an obligation to pursue and disclose the truth regarding suspected crimes by previous administrations.

As a superficial matter, I’m always concerned with topics that give the AFF a dual burden—“pursue” and “disclose”—which only tends to expand negative ground. But beyond that, I don’t think this will lend itself to good debate. In real life, this is not an issue of an “obligation” or an “abstract” value principle. In real life, whether governments pursue and disclose (aka “prosecute past administrations”) depends on whether they think that would be good for society under the circumstances. People would say “yes, do it” if they think it would be good for society. They would say “no, don’t do it” if it would lead to riots and unrest and destroy society. It’s a policy/pragmatic question that depends on the circumstances. And the literature treats it that way.

Resolved: Public health concerns warrant government violation of pharmaceutical patents.

Legally, I find this topic confusing. A patent is a property right the government grants (under certain provisos/limitations/conditions). I don’t understand what it means for a government to “violate” a patent. A government could always say in advance that the patent right will only be for a limited time and not hold during an emergency crisis. Or say that it’s subject to a compulsory license when public health concerns warrant. Are those legitimate counter-plans? Does it count as “violating” the patent if these rules are announced ahead of time and built into the definition of the patent right? The real debate in the literature is a “policy” one—whether allowing the government to create generics in times of emergency eliminates the incentive to create new medicines. Interesting—but ultimately not a values debate (because the answer is in the middle: limit the circumstances where we act; compensate appropriately for the taking; etc.—and you maximize both sides). So confusion over what it means to “violate” a patent and how the issue is actually thought of in real life makes this a less ideal topic.

Resolved: Records of an individual’s home Internet use ought to be protected from unreasonable search and seizure by the government.

This is another topic where the subject is interesting, but the wording doesn’t work. If you read it carefully, what it talks about is protecting individuals from UNREASONABLE searches and seizures. The negative would have to defend the government acting UNREASONABLY!!! No legal case I know of defends the government’s right to act unreasonably. And I doubt that’s what the writers of the resolution meant to get at. Also, the issue (under the law and in most of the literature on search and seizure) isn’t whether the government should be reasonable or unreasonable, but rather what it MEANS to be reasonable. The wording misses the mark. As an aside, the more interesting issue is what came down in the press this week—where the Supreme Court of some state ruled that an internet blogger did not have the right to remain anonymous. A much more interesting internet related topic might be: “Resolved: freedom of speech ought to include the right to speak anonymously.”

Resolved: Compulsory inclusion of non-felons’ DNA in any government database is unjust.

I get the intent of the writers—to talk about the literature that criticizes the collection of DNA from misdemeanor offenders, etc. or to constrain the government’s creation of terrorist-suspect databases. But the wording and the focus on “any government database” makes this a bad topic to debate. First, there are so many databases that have nothing to do with criminals or citizens. We have compulsory DNA gathering for CIA operatives or foreign heads of state, for example. Does the negative just have to find one obscure database? Second, grammatically the topic is messed up. The word “compulsory” modifies “inclusion.” But in real life, what the literature is really focused on is not “inclusion” in a database, but the forced “collection” of DNA. In other words, can the negative negate by saying “I agree—we shouldn’t collect DNA from people. But if we have the DNA evidence, we should make sure we log it. So we have compulsory inclusion of the DNA we have, without compulsory gathering.” I doubt that’s what the writers had in mind, yet that’s technically what the topic says.

…..Ok. I really like the remaining six. I think we won’t go wrong with any of them. So the question becomes WHICH slot works for WHICH topic. That’s really up to personal preference, and I am interested in what other people think. Here are my two cents (which is informed by talking to other people at Nationals too). But I readily admit people may have valid points of view on which topic belongs in which slot. There’s no clear answer here.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY TOPIC

I start with the Jan/Feb slot. This is where schools really have to think about what makes sense for them. For me, I always think of it as a LONG topic where there are many Circuit tournaments and TOCs. I look for a topic that will not be boring after a few tournaments, and has a wide diversity of approaches that might work. So a big topic works.

With that paradigm in mind, I think three topics readily lend themselves to consideration: HIGHLY INDEBTED POOR COUNTRIES, ECONOMIC SANCTIONS, and NUKES. I end up favoring HIGHLY INDEBTED POOR COUNTRIES for three reasons: (1) I think it’s a broader topic with lots of dimensions—philosophical, pragmatic, economic, international relations, North-South scenarios, social contract, the justness of a contract, etc.; (2) We’ve done economic sanctions and nukes a lot. Redoing them tends to favor programs with a long history of debate and for people like me, gets boring; and (3) I have a bias against this particular wording of nukes. The “possession” wording was a Jan/Feb topic in the past. The debates ended up getting boring because they were reduced to a) deterrence, b) tools can’t be immoral; and c) asteroid scenarios. Again, I like all three—slightly favoring HIGHLY INDEBTED POOR COUNTRIES.

THE OTHER SLOTS

First, let’s focus on Mar/Apr, Nationals, and Sept/Oct (put aside Nov/Dec). I tend to think of these three slots from a particular bias. Many schools who do the March/April topic tend to be schools doing state qualifiers, state champs, or nats qualifiers before more lay judges. And Sept/Oct has to be novice friendly and parent friendly. Also, these topics tend to be shorter parts of the season. Nationals is a one-tournament topic. March/April is always rushed because it comes at the heels of Jan/Feb. So I like smaller topics, that are easily understood, and yet are interesting.

Topics that fit into this category include: COMPULSORY IMMUNIZATION, HOUSING, and JURY NULLIFICATION. NUKES and ECONOMIC SANCTIONS fit too, but tend to be bigger topics. (By the way, I think some people end up biased against jury nullification because they don’t understand it. It’s just civil disobedience in the jury box—whether it’s ok for the jury to disregard the law when they deliberate.)

So how do you slot them?

Well, let’s start with Sept/Oct. To me, this topic has to be good for novices AND still be interesting for many important circuit tournaments that start the year. If not easily accessible, new debaters won’t want to do debate. If too simplistic, advanced debaters complain. Out of the three, I choose HOUSING. It’s easy to understand. Yet, more advanced debaters can do interesting stuff. They can do the socialism/capitalism debate. They can do the social contract debate. But they can also take critical legal studies angles, discrimination angles, etc. It’s a bigger topic that’s potentially more robust. NUKES could fit the bill—but remember, I didn’t like deterrence, tool, and asteroid debates. ECONOMIC SANCTIONS could fit too, but I’m going to slot that for nationals.

Why ECONOMIC SANCTIONS for Nationals? Again, it’s lay friendly yet advanced/robust friendly—just like HOUSING. I put ECONOMIC SANCTIONS for Nationals, though, because I’d rather that be the one-tournament topic. As I recall debating economic sanctions in the past, it gets boring. I’d just rather debate HOUSING for longer.

Then November/December. That tends to be a really short topic, and many Circuit tournaments. Choosing big, previously done topics like ECONOMIC SANCTIONS or NUKES would favor the programs with large back-files and established programs. Historically, legal topics have done well in that slot. There is usually great legal research readily available, so people can get up to speed and advanced quickly. So I pick JURY NULLIFICATION.

That leaves me with COMPULSORY IMMUNIZATION for March/April.

What’s left off? NUKES. But that’s just because I found the “possession” wording usually leading to boring debates (deterrence, asteroids, and “tool” debates).

That’s my two cents. It’s a great list, with a lot of room for differing opinions. What are your thoughts?

Victor

The critics are Craig Austin of Centennial High School in California, Stan Austin of Wheaton North in Illinois, Rick Farrar of Lincoln Financial Group, Vicki Fellers of Wichita East High School in Kansas, Victor Jih of the Brentwood School in California, Bill Jordan of Glendale High School in Missouri, 1988 National Champion Anoop Mishra (formerly of Homewood High School in Alabama), 1994 National Champion Claire Carman Redding (formerly of Vestavia Hills High School in Alabama), Jeff Roberts of Mountain Brook High School in Alabama, Michael Traas of Appleton East in Wisconsin, David Watkins of Neosho High School in Missouri, David Wozniak of Lincoln Financial Group, and Pam Cady Wycoff of Apple Valley High School in Minnesota.

UPDATE: Commentaries on the final round of Original Oratory (by Adam Torson), Duo Interpretation (by Christian Keil), International Extemporaneous Speaking (by Liz Vieira), U.S. Extemporaneous Speaking (by Zach Prax), policy debate (by Robert Parker), Public Forum debate (by Carol Green), and Lincoln-Douglas debate (by 2008 National Champion Todd Liipfert) have been posted.

Editorial aside: Congratulations to Drew Hammond for coaching TWO of this year’s finalist teams in Duo Interpretation!

ORIGINAL ORATORY Commentary by Adam Torson

The distinguished panel is introduced, including numerous multi-diamond coaches, NFL Hall of Fame members, and past National Champions.

David Gay, the chair of the event, reminds us that we began with 222 contestants, and are now down to six. The event was tabbed by Doug Tschettar, Steve Schappaugh, and Lois Pearson.

105 –- Uncle Mackston Digs Dead Animals -– Rory Squire — VA
The speaker argues that in modern society we are becoming increasingly uncivil and disrespectful toward one another. She uses the theme of animals and taxidermy as a device to organize her speech, and employs contemporary examples such as crowds trampling people to death and websites detailing cruel behavior among teenagers. She also describes personal experiences of inhumanity and cruelty. She concludes with examples of good and decent behavior to make the claim that we can choose to be civil and compassionate toward others. Despite some difficulties in the early part of her speech, she recovered nicely and delivered an excellent performance.

205 –- Harvey and Jack -– John Hofmeister — Apple Valley High School (MN)
The speaker uses the example of the imaginary rabbit from the play and movie “Harvey” (taking on the voice and mannerisms of actor Jimmy Stewart) to offer some thoughts on the state of imagination in America. The speaker argues that we encourage others to imagine for us. Because we consume so much mass media which bombards us with images and sounds, instead of reading books or engaging in other forms of imaginative entertainment, we are losing our ability to use our imagination. In fact, he argues, we discourage imaginative thinking altogether, often leading to conformity and poor thinking. The speaker then describes the positive side of imagination, including an anecdote about the connection that imaginative play allowed him to form with his mother. Finally, the speaker offers solutions to the problem, including breaking and crossing boundaries in our thinking and improving our problem solving skills by focusing less on analytics and more on imagination.

277 –- Non-Verbal Communication -– Morgan Bush, McNeil High School (TX)
The speaker introduces his speech by showing how strange non-verbal communications impair our ability to communicate. He argues that we are losing our ability to communicate effectively in the modern world because we fail to pay attention to non-verbals. First, the speaker describes the types of non-verbal communication, including examples of how tone of voice is lost in text messaging. He then describes more broadly how the digital world and virtual communication effect our interactions with each other. Specifically, he argues that because non-verbals are such an important part of most face to face communication, virtual communication can only capture a very small part of our communicative interactions. Specifically he discusses the effects of text messaging and social networking websites. The speaker concludes by arguing that non-verbal communication is what imbues words with their human quality, and help to elevate spoken communication to an art form.

216 –- I have a Question –- Alfonse Mushamba — Holy Ghost Preparatory School (PA)
The speaker begins with an anecdote about his curious nature, describing how he asks many questions all the time. He then argues that too many of us are asking too few questions. He gives several examples of situations in which we fail to ask important questions, such as in a healthcare setting or as part of the recent financial scandals. The speaker then argues that we often learn not to ask questions because we fear being perceived as “empty headed,” and suggests that many schools fail to encourage curiosity. He argues that even inconvenient questions can provide important information, and so the solution to the problem is to get over the fear of asking the wrong question.

220 –- Finding the “I” in “Team” –- Joe Thomas — Eagan High School (MN)
The speaker begins with an anecdote about the unfairness of grades on group projects. He begins by suggesting that an increasing reliance on group problem-solving, while sometimes a positive force, can be dangerously stifle the contributions of individuals. First, the speaker argues that group work can reduce productivity, because individuals tend to work less in a group setting. Second, he argues that group work stifles creativity and silences opposing viewpoints. Third, he argues that group settings can distort individual judgment, giving examples of people failing to act to stop terrible crimes in group setting. Specifically he describes the phenomenon of deindividuation and “groupthink.” Finally, the speaker argues that while teamwork can be powerful, it needs to be tempered by the power of the individual.

207 –- Whoa Be Unto Yo’ Soul –- Alexandra Elim — Plano Senior High School (TX)
The speaker starts with an anecdote about a colorful music teacher, who emphasized the importance of feeling the music and “soul.” She introduces the idea that we have lost sight of our authentic soul. First, she describes how we have lost our authentic selves, arguing that we are conditioned in schools and at home to conform and hide our true selves. Second, she argues that our fear of our authentic selves has made us awkward in our relationships, and makes us feel inferior. Third, she argues that we need to emphasize individuality and a self-directed life, and honor our authentic selves – our “souls.”

Semi-Finalists are introduced.
14. Ola Abiose –- Iowa City West High School (IA)
13. Trananh Hoang –- J. Frank Dobie High School (TX)
12. Miles Bridges – James Logan High School (CA)
11. Tatyana Burton -– Apple Valley High School (MN)
10. Tina Wynn –- Gabriolino High School (CA)
9. Breanna Collins -– Winston Churchill High School (TX)
8. Chris Moncrief –- Bronx Preparatory Charter School (NY)
7. Deepti Wadhera — Syosset High School (NY)

DUO INTERPRETATION Commentary by Christian Keil

Note from Jon Cruz and Mike Bietz: Congratulations to Drew Hammond for coaching TWO of this year’s finalist teams in Duo Interpretation!

AN AMATEURS PERSPECTIVE: DUO FINALS

This year’s duo finals were, to say the least, amazing. It was an entertaining, close round, and held six of the best speeches I have heard in my (admittedly short) speech career. Without further ado, here are your national finalists in dramatic duo, presented in speaking order:

From Eagan, Minnesota: “Because I Wanted To Say.”

“Balls! My foot!”

This piece is a tale of two characters: a recently married woman, and her gay best friend. The conflict of the story is the apparent struggle of the woman to tell her friend that she misses/will miss him. What was actually happening was cloudy at times, and it lacked some of the elements I look for in a duo: tech elements, multiple characters, and a strong moral. If anything, the piece taught that you should say what you want to say, but that is decidedly weaker than the topics touched by other duos. Overall, it was a good piece, just not stellar. The story could have been stronger, but there was good humor, and good drama.

From Duluth-Denfeld, Minnesota: “Anna & August.”

“Please don’t puke on me.”

This duo was cute. There were many “awwww…” moments, and this piece had the most big laughs out of the six final pairs. It follows the adolescence of the two titular characters, and their awkward, yet apparent love. It begins with Anna kneeing August in the face after their first kiss, and ends with Anna throwing up on August at senior prom. The two live “happily ever after.” (Awwww…) This piece was a crowd favorite (the couple watching behind me immediately declared it “at least first or second place”), but I feel that the performers didn’t have the command that other duos did. And, although it got more laughs than any other duo, some jokes did fall flat. I still love this duo, and it definitely deserved its place in national spotlight.

From Harlingen South, Texas: “The Crayon Map.”

“One day, I’m going to take my pistils and shove them right up his…”

The story begins with a young boy (Frankie) drawing his older brother (Aaron) a map in crayon, that contains talking flowers, a pond, “Dr. R’s,” and an unnamed location later revealed to be a hospital. The intro asks us to consider what is real, and what is simply imagination - foreshadowing the major twist. The two brothers are taken by the map into Frankie’s “dream world,” where they encounter the items on the map, leading them to the final stage, the “last thing [Aaron] needs to wake up.” It is revealed then that Frankie has been dead for two years, and Aaron is simply dreaming. This is one of the strongest stories in the final round, only second to “The Metamorphosis”, and I really liked this piece. The humor could have been stronger, but the drama was top-notch.

From Lakeville North, Minnesota: “The Metamorphosis.”

“The voice was his own, true, but it was as if a constant WHAAAAAAAA intruded.”

Everything about this piece was wonderful. Granted, I am horribly biased as an ex-Lakeville debater, but I truly feel that this piece had everything one can expect from a dramatic duo. First and foremost, they pulled of Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis. The story follows a German businessman, Gregor Samsa, and his metamorphosis. Gregor awakes to find himself “transformed into a hideous vermin.” He eventually dies, after being starved by his own family. The piece asks the audience to decide who is the real vermin, Gregor, or his family, who cares less and less about Gregor as the piece progresses. The technical elements (like coordination) and the dramatic/comedic elements were in a league of their own, and I truly feel like this piece has a good chance of winning. My only reservation is that there was a small mistake made: in the scene where Gregor’s father throws apples at him, the competitors said “Gregor” instead of “Gregor’s father.” It was still stellar, surely of national-champion-winning quality, and my personal favorite.

From James Logan, California: “The Wizard of Hip.”

“I brought you into this world, and I can surely [shotgun loading noise] bring you out of it.”

The question presented by this duo was, simply: what is hip? The story follows the youth of a boy growing up with his family (father, mother, sister), and trying to figure out the answer to this question. The piece made lots of family jokes and had AMAZING cadences, the beat at the beginning as the most memorable. The boy plays basketball with his dad, and his dad starts to cough after making a shot. His coughing gradually fades to a scene many years in the future, at the dad’s deathbed. It is here that the boy discovers what hip truly is: immortality. I thought that the only real problem with this speech was the off-topic jokes (spanking, sister vs. brother). Granted, those jokes were hilarious, but the piece even concedes that they are off-topic: “Now back to hip.” This duo was the most memorable for me.

And finally, from Eagan, Minnesota: “Same Difference.”

“Man, you look like Carlton Banks.”

This duo follows the first year of college for two black students from Chicago, and their struggle with societal, and personal differences. One of the students, it is later revealed, is the adopted son of two homosexual men, and one student’s father abandoned him at an early age. The fatherless student attempts to get a job in his first week of school, and once that is landed, he attempts to get the one intern promotion. He fails, which the adopted student attributes to his race. The most dramatic scene followed, where the fatherless student gave an intensely emotional speech about race. This piece touched on many big issues (homosexuality, racial tension), and was very, very good. It also had cadences like “The Wizard of Hip,” but the ones found in this piece seemed like they fit in with the rest of the story better. I could see this piece winning nationals as well, but feel that it was slightly less technically difficult than was “The Metamorphosis.”

My rankings:

1. The Metamorphosis: Clean, coordinated, perfect mix of drama and humor.
2. Same Difference: Good message, great presence, slightly less polished than 1.
3. The Wizard of Hip: Amazing cadence, fair drama, but off-topic at times.
4. Anna & August: Hilarious, cute, yet lacking the presence/polish of 1-3.
5. Crayon Map: Very dramatic, good twist, needed more big laughs.
6. Because I Wanted To Say: Lacked strong story, awkward straddled comedy/drama line.

Notable feats:

*Three teams are comprised solely of underclassmen (Wizard of Hip, Same Difference, Anna & August), and by a new rule for this year, automatically qualify for the 2010 national tournament.

*Four teams are from Minnesota (Eagan, Eagan, Lakeville, Duluth).

*The competitors from Lakeville North (Adam Bouchareb and Greta Besser) were last year’s National Champions. If they win this year, they will be the first repeat duo champions in NFL history.

If you disagree with my rankings, have thoughts of any of the pieces, have a notable feat I missed, or would like to voice your support for any of the competitors, please leave a comment below. This final round was a pleasure to watch, and all of the teams truly deserve the recognition they earned by competing on the national stage.

INTERNATIONAL EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEAKING Commentary by Liz Vieira

Speaker one: 147 Stacy Chen — North Allegheny High School (PA)
Do development and democracy go hand in hand?
Answer: yes.
1. Development leads to more open and free markets. Western support crucial to developing economies.
2. Development strengthens political opposition. Chinese civilians pushing toward democracy
3. International pressure for free government.

Speaker two: 276 Ryan Pollack — Mount Lebanon High School (PA)
Is globalization the problem or the solution?
Answer: the solution
1. Interdependant economies are healthy economies.
2. Globalization offers unique opportunities to developing world. Example of Latin american countries. Foreign investment and exports
3. Globalization facilitates spread of ideas. New Iranian culture of dissent.

Speaker three: 151 Luke Brinker — Topeka High School (KS)
From where will the world’s next big challenge come?
Answer: Iran
1. Significance in cause of democracy promotion.
2. Nuclear program causes tension in international community.
3. Iran’s support of terrorists.

Speaker four: 158 Cecily ____ — Lamar Consolidated High School (TX)
Are economic growth and environmentalism implaccable foes?
Answer: no.
1. Development of industry is conducive to environmentalism. Example of chinese industry adapting to environment.
2. Innovation in alternative and green economies. Example of car manufacturers marketing enviro friendly cars because of demand
3. International community protects environment in economic exchanges. Economic incentive to stop deforestation.

Speaker five: 250 Jacob Baker — Bellarmine High School (CA)
Can the world bank be the organization the world hopes it can be?
Answer: yes.
1. State renovation. Increase in social spending caused failure of political systems. World bank can help
2. Failed states happen because of global trade. Finance is primarily regional. Economically can expand oversight.
3. Early warning system for economic collapse.

Speaker six: 252 Will Rafey — Bellarmine High School (CA)
Are drug wars a good solution to the problem of worldwide drug addiction?
Answer: no
1. Strengthens drug cartels by driving costs up.
2. Drug war alienates drug users. Rhetoric depicts users as less than human and forces them underground.
3. Drug war diverts attention from more effective solutions. Need more harm reduction, and decriminalize/ legalize drug use.

NOTE: Will Rafey was in the final round of the National Tournament of Champions in policy debate.

U.S. EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEAKING by Zach Prax

Two quick comments before the round summary: (1) I am so glad I kept to my winter-weather gear despite Bietz tauntings, because WOW the theater was freezing, and (2) I was not particularly thrilled with some of the questions that were asked in the USX final round. I think that all of the speakers did a nice job considering that many were ill-defined.

In the end, I think that the judges will vote for whomever was best able to define the context of the question. Some were so broad that defining a very specific scope with which to evaluate the question will most certainly play an important factor in deciding the round.

Finally, congrats to the finalists! Making the stage is a huge honor.

Speaker 284: Has the US lost its superpower status?

Immediately, a very polished speaker. He answers that no we have not: the US still retains hard power, its competitors are lagging behind, and the world still looks to the US for leadership. While I think that the speaker does a nice job in saying why the arguments he’s making are true, I think more could have been done to establish why they meant his answer to the question was true – i.e. the second point is entirely focused on China, but why does the fact that China is lagging behind mean that the U.S. is still a superpower?

Speaker 269: Is the American dream still alive?

Very fluent speaker. He argues that the American dream is not alive whatsoever – the economy is bad, there is a marked decline in the middle class, and the US “has not prepared people for life in a flat world”. Like the previous two, he’s doing a nice job convincing us that his arguments are true; while depressing, I can ultimately see validity in his claims. However, I’d like to see some more contextual evaluation of the question: what IS the American dream? By saying it’s not alive…is it assumed that it can never be brought back to life? I guess I just think the odd question demands a bit more attention to its intention.

Speaker 316: Will the 21st Century also be the American century?

Relatively fluent and there’s some good quips in there too – I appreciated the humor but wish I had a little bit more time to laugh as he’s going pretty quickly. He answers that it will not be the American century (I guess I want to know…what IS the “American century”. The economy is not sustainable, there are foreign policy failures, and there are other challenges on the rise (I can’t read my writing for the last point :) ). The speech is definitely substantive, and lots of good sources being used. I would like to see some clarification as to how we know these challenges will continue. We’re told that they are long-term harms, but it’d be nice to see some further explanation as to how they will continue to dominate rather than asserting it.

Speaker 257: Can capitalism survive as an economic system?

Great delivery – and there’s very clearly some smart thinking going into the speech. He argues that capitalism can survive, but only under a few conditions: competition must be encouraged, rigid rules must be broken (or at least bend) and regulation must be sensible. There is a clear command on the issues, but at points the speech gets bogged down in examples. The first point makes a good argument, but I’d rather hear a more coherent evaluation of the argument followed by an application of the example rather than hearing purely about the example (General Motors).

Speaker 189: Yes we can…or can we?

I’d hate to see the other two questions that this speaker drew. As a whole, I think he’s doing a very good job with what he’s got. The speaker says we can, and lists three areas in which we can improve the US – education, the economy, and the war on terror. There’s lots of explanation of different solutions we could employ to fix these areas – but, I’d like to see some evidence as to how we know the solutions will work. Overall, a good speech.

Speaker 121: It is the best of times, it is the worst of times?

I’m guessing this was one of the questions that was thrown away by the previous speaker. Seems to me like this is a pretty textbook example of being forced to answer something based on a false dichotomy; but, the speaker makes a reasonably intelligible speech despite my issues with the question. It’s argued that it’s the best of times, as the US is pursuing very viable options in the war on terror, healthcare reform, and repairing the US’ tarnished image. I did like how there was an overriding organization (the existence of the potential for change. However, the issue of the economy was very noticeably absent – I would have liked to hear some analysis on how the economy is getting better / solutions exist, or at the very least something that explains why our current economic crisis won’t get any worse.

POLICY DEBATE Commentary by Robert Parker

Nats Policy Finals Overview:

The AC advocates in Contention 1 that existing hydroelectric dams are bad. This is because they destroy biodiversity. The fact they creating a chopping motion means they chop up salmon populations. Moreover, the block rivers and turn them into stagnant lakes, this is bad because it disrupts migration and mating patterns. Destroying salmon sucks because it hurts fisherman jobs, disrupts the ecosystem, and native American populations rely upon them. The plan is to replace these dams with vortex technology that utilizes underwater cylinders that vibrate and draw water into them, and harness that energy for electricity. The solvency evidence was basic cards about how there are already movements to get rid of hydroelectric dams and vortex tech is efficient.

The NC runs 4 offcase (tax disad, 2 justification args, and a politics disad) and then advantages. The tax disad argued new tech and implementing it requires new taxes. These new taxes are the worst possible thing we can do and will destroy jobs, which in turns destroys economic stability, which leads to nuke war…naturally. The justification args were that there is no reason the AC is necessary to solve for hydroelectric damns (obama could always pass a law banning them), and that the states can solve like how in the NE they are creating cap and trade initiatives on their own. The politics disad was about how obama will face backlash from unions, republicans, and conservative democrats, in that event he will need to turn to China for support which will somehow destroy our trade in Chinese tires and weakening that economic partnership risks nuke war because there is less of an incentive to not attack. The NC finishes with a series of args on how AFF evidence is Euro specific, how destruction of some salmon doesn’t translate to the extinction of salmon, a turn that chopping up salmon is good because bears can more easily digest them, how species extinction is silly because it should’ve happened already but hasn’t, and how we are evolutionarily justified in killing salmon because we are more highly evolved. It’s just nature.

AFF strat from then on is arguing salmon population is hugely important because the NC ignores the arg about turning rivers into stagnate lakes and disrupting migration and mating patterns. They go for the biodiversity impacts, and contend that nuke war was empirically disproven by the “.com” bubble. The politics disad is silly because public and congressional support is behind hydropower, and the resolution states that the AFF must only show the AFF plan good, not comparatively awesome. They backtrack and argue that their impact was never on extinction, but rather reduction of the population, and that the fed is necessary because of licensing laws. They go for creation of new tech jobs, and bio diversity args on how to prevent the specific list of harms they outline as the ultimate reasons to affirm.

NEG strat is primarily that Shell says any risk of nuke war sufficient to vote off of, and there is still a slight risk because the AFF concedes that expanding hydro will require new taxes, which leads jobs collapse, will devastate economies and result in nuke conflict because trade with china will be harmed. They contend that the “.com” bubble only showed collapse of one industry doesn’t translate to the collapse of the entire economy. Moreover, they argue that specific AC evidence still didn’t show a link between some salmon dieing and all salmon dieing, that the AC evidence was specific to wave energy so it didn’t apply, and that despite the AFF args on how the economy is cyclic – we are uniquely on the brink of Great Depression 2 and we can’t afford new taxes now. The NC ultimately goes for nukes, and moreso loss of jobs when we affirm as the reasons why the neg world is comparatively better.

As an aside, the first speaker on neg was definitely the sexiest, and the funniest – maybe the two are connected. The second speaker aff had a sweet afro (for a white guy) and the second speaker neg reminded me of uncle kracker. Also, I don’t know why this is important but in cross-x it was established the neg debaters definitely are not, themselves, salmon and therefore don’t know their plight.

PUBLIC FORUM DEBATE Commentary by Carol Green

Starting out the week with 241 qualified Public Forum teams debated normalizing relations with Cuba. 81 teams made it out of preliminary rounds and when the lights went down in the BJCC Concert Hall on Friday, only 2 teams remained.

In the final round of Public Forum debate at NFLs took place at 2:30pm CST between Durham Academy (NC) and St. Andrew’s (MS). Winning the coin flip, Durham chose to negate the resolution. St. Andrew’s then chose to speak second.

The Con case consisted of the following primary arguments. Within case set-up, a burden was placed upon the Pro to show that an unconditional normalizing is desirable while the Con just needed to show it is undesirable to do so. The first contention was that lifting the embargo would prop up the Castro regime. The substructure included that the money would benefit the state over the people. Losing leverage was the second contention including that it would legitimize the Castro regime.

The Pro team had four parts to their case. The first was that the embargo is not effective now and embargos have not historically been effective. Second was that the embargo is punishing the people. Third was the revitalization of soft power. Finally was the ability to collaborate on research and development.

Throughout the debate, the Con contended that it was about a strong Castro versus a weak Castro and that normalizing relations with Cuba would build military and hurt the people of Cuba.

The Pro countered with a number is arguments that at best washed the arguments about where travel monies went. It was pointed out by the Aff that the Con argues travel will become the number one revenue source post-embargo and the Cuban government only collects 22 cents of every dollar. I don’t think this was a direct response to the Con’s argument of the government distribution and withholding of salaries of the Cuban people. However the Con doesn’t say this outright in either the summary or final focus. In my opinion this becomes a wash because in later speeches, neither team recognizes the opponents fiscal arguments and directly clashes on them.

The Pro presses for an example of a country where an embargo worked. Libya was brought into the round but was never explained by either side except to discuss how long it took.

On the soft power argument, there were assertions by the Con that this was not a pressing issue in Latin America and we have great relations which aren’t going to get better. The Pro response was that Cuba is the most decisive issue in the region and lifting the embargo could only improve relations.

In the final focus, the Con focused on the increase in money strengthens the regime. This causes us to lose political leverage and strengthens Cuba. Additionally it signals a victory for the Castro regime. I wish the discussion of the impact of a stronger Castro had been incorporated more into the speech rather than the reiteration of how the regime is strengthened. The Con definitely had conceeded examples of how the people are oppressed by the military that could have been used.

The Pro final focus pressed again for an example other than Libya of a lasting concession resulting from an embargo. The economic benefits and soft power benefits for the United States were extended along with the argument that Castro would be forced to stop scapegoating and take responsibility for his policies.

LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE Commentary by 2008 National Champion Todd Liipfert

Before I begin, I apologize for any mistakes in typing (hoping that there aren’t that many) and want to say congratulations to both debaters on making it to finals!

After a speech from Abraham Lincoln, in which he speaks of the importance of protecting the rights of every man and woman and the freedom we all enjoy every day, the judges for the Final Round of LD are introduced.

Now the Chairman of Tab for LD reminds us that the LD tournament started out with 330 competitors and now is down to only two and thanks those who helped run the tournament in Tab.

AFF: 175 – Jake Nebel

NEG: 232 – Shivani Vohra

Jake Nebel begins by thanking those who contributed to this year’s tournament as well as his debate career.

A piece of trivia that I am sure that Cruz will love: Jake and Shivani debated in the final round of both their first and last tournaments this year.

The affirmative case begins:

In the case, Jake constructs life as absolutely paramount and the most important right in terms of justice. He then addresses qualities of conscription both on a theoretical level and pragmatic, addressing both levels of important issues of the topic. The case is well done and based on both strong analytics and empirical findings. I think that the two levels will lead to an interesting debate as it forces both debaters to address multiple aspects of the resolution rather than over-specifying.

In the first CX, Shivani first begins by attempting to determine which is more important, theoretical or pragmatic arguments in order to better construct her next speech and attack the more important issue.

She then probes into the opportunity cost argument that Jake makes about football players losing more than those who were previously employed. The result of this line of questioning on both sides is left being a bit vague and unresolved.

After the CX, I think that the NC will probably structure responses around creating a hierarchy between the theoretical level and pragmatic one. And then framing the debate about one being more important than the other.

I think that both debaters held their own in CX and there wasn’t a clearly stronger debater coming out of the first CX.

Now, the Negative Constructive:

Shivani begins with her case with the idea that rights require that we make sacrifices to protect them. If I am to have my rights protected, I must fulfill obligations to make that protection possible. As a result of this idea, we must all equally share the burden rather than unfairly placing it on certain groups of people. Her case also talks about how it is important to realize that if conscription is unjust, it must be prohibited but to say that it is just is to allow conscription to be used but not forced.

Her responses to the affirmative echo the ideas of her case which is very strong because she organized all of her responses in a very strong attack at the premise of the affirmative case. An especially good argument is her response to the football player vs. unemployed person asking why the unemployed should be forced to sacrifice while the football star isn’t. Also, Shivani stresses that the debate should probably focus more on the theoretical ideas rather than pragmatics when she says that problems of implementation can be fixed and aren’t as important.

Now the second CX:

This CX is also demonstrative of the skill of both debaters because they both are holding their ground and making answers to be consistent with their positions. However, Jake stresses the idea that if we are not in the military the negative case says that we are neglecting obligations of the government.
In the 1AR:

Jake first begins by reading potentially damning evidence to Shivani’s case from the author that she is basing her idea of rights and obligations on. His evidence is from the end of the article in which the author states that there should not be a draft. Jake then goes on to explain how both of the criterions are the same and that any violation of justice and safety must prohibit any action. He then focuses on the theoretical issues in the affirmative case and seems to be stressed for time while defending and bringing his points from his contention 1 back into the round.
In the NR, Shivani comes back strong by developing and defending her case from the arguments that Jake has made. She stresses both points from her contention as reasons that we must have military conscription as an option on the table. Her first voter is based on the idea that if one person has to sacrifice their rights then because of equality all must. This is a strong point in conjunction with her argument and economic hierarchies on the AC about the football player vs. the unemployed. Then she talks about how in times like WWII the draft was absolutely necessary to protect life and thus has to be just in those situations. Finally, she makes her third voter the issue that when we have conscription there will be less war because more people will be at risk so we will be more hesitant to participate in conflicts. Therefore, she better protects life because there is less war when you have conscription.

Finally, the 2AR:

Jake exploits the critical importance of the evidence he read against the negative case that reverses her framework back on her. Military conscription is not something to be forced but there are other ways to fulfill our obligations and responsibilities to the state. This becomes his first voting issue followed by his second voter which debases the argument Shivani makes about military conscription needing to be reserved as a last resort because he offers many alternatives that do not harm life as much as conscription does. Finally Jake concludes by stressing the inequalities that conscription leads to with his football player and unemployed example. He stresses the fact that one has more to lose than the other by joining the military and so it would be unequal to force one to.

After the round:

I think that the round comes down to a few issues on either side. Shivani has strong arguments coming from her case (especially the idea of last resort as in WWII) as well as the turn about less war on the affirmative case which went unaddressed in both affirmative rebuttals. However, Jake also finds strong arguments in his voters, mainly his discussions of the Duket (sp?) evidence that he read against the negative case and thus turned her arguments against her as well as his inequality argument that constituted his third voter.

In my opinion, I think that the way in which we decide the round is a little confusing as coming from both debaters as arguments are impacting to many different issues with the right to life both pragmatically, as Shivani’s dropped turn does, and the ideas of inequality, as Jake’s sub-point B does with the football player stuff. In the end, if asked to vote, I would vote for the affirmative because at the end of the round, I think that Jake’s responses to the negative case are sufficient to give alternatives to the draft in times of military need and that her argument about responsibility is answered by the card he reads. Then, in the absence of a way to evaluate the turn versus the affirmative sub-point b, which I see Jake winning presented in either the NR or 2AR, I default to what Jake said in the 1AR about Shivani’s observation: any violation of justice means that an action cannot be used and qualifies as a reason to vote for the affirmative. I see this at least referenced to with Jake’s powerful last words: “Liberty is an unacceptable price for safety.” At this point, the harm that comes from loss of liberty excludes the turn that Shivani has in terms of the decision calculus for me.

However, this is just my opinion and the judges could definitely (and probably) see the round in a different way. In either case, congrats to both debaters on a great and very close round!

The Hockaday School’s Shivani Vohra and Trinity Preparatory School’s Jake Nebel will face off in the final round of Lincoln-Douglas debate at the 2009 National Tournament. Victory Briefs Daily will provide coverage of finals and of the awards ceremony.

In the fifteenth round, Jake defeated Cherry Creek High School’s Stephen Lurie; Shivani defeated Leland High School’s Aparna Ramanan.

(Please pardon the camp photograph; a more appropriate photograph will be taken tomorrow!)

Speaker Awards:

Andrew Arsht - Utah
Josh Dean - Kansas
Mario Feola - Utah
Kendall Kaut - Kansas
Sam Miller - South Dakota
Taylor Nichols - Kansas
Chris Power - New Hampshire
Mike Selck - Missouri

Final Awards:

Katryna Cadle - New Hampshire
Carl Fitz - Texas
Patrick Githens - Kansas
Erik Johnson - California
Colin Quinn - Illinois
Nijay Sridharan - California

You can follow the photographic updates at the Victory Briefs Photo Gallery. The photographs are archived under “08/09 Nationals.”

What do you think of the resolutions? Share your thoughts here!

Afterwards, for coverage of Lincoln-Douglas debate, click here. For coverage of Public Forum debate, click here. For coverage of policy debate and the Individual Events, click here.

Resolved: Governments have an obligation to pursue and disclose the truth regarding suspected crimes by previous administrations.

Resolved: Public health concerns warrant government violation of pharmaceutical patents.

Resolved: In the United States, the principle of jury nullification is a just check on government.

Resolved: It is just for highly indebted poor countries to repudiate their debt.

Resolved: Economic sanctions ought not be used to achieve foreign policy objectives.

Resolved: A just government ought to guarantee adequate housing for all of its citizens.

Resolved: Public health concerns justify compulsory immunization.

Resolved: Records of an individual’s home Internet use ought to be protected from unreasonable search and seizure by the government.

Resolved: States ought not possess nuclear weapons.

Resolved: Compulsory inclusion of non-felons’ DNA in any government database is unjust.

For coverage of Lincoln-Douglas debate, click here.

For coverage of Public Forum debate, click here.

For coverage of policy debate and the Individual Events, click here.

You can follow the photographic updates at the Victory Briefs Photo Gallery. The photographs are archived under “08/09 Nationals.”

The National Forensic League uses a double-elimination system in debate; beginning with Rounds 7 and 8, contestants are eliminated once they have have received two losses. Pairings for the elimination rounds are available here.

Round 15 has been posted.

All of the debaters in Round 14 have sustained one loss from Round 7 on, with the exception of Stephen Lurie of Cherry Creek High School, who is undefeated.

ROUND 15
175 Trinity Prep JN def. 267 Cherry Creek SL (Stephen Lurie)
232 Hockaday SV def. 299 Leland AR (Aparna Ramanan)

ROUND 14

103 Potomac AG (Adam Gerchick) vs. 175 Trinity Prep JN (Jake Nebel)
232 Hockaday SV (Shivani Vohra) vs. 267 Cherry Creek SL (Stephen Lurie)
299 Leland AR (Aparna Ramanan) BYE

ROUND 13

175 Trinity Prep JN def. 258 Liberty KW (Katie Whittaker)
232 Hockaday SV def. 262 Altamont ST (Shawn Tuteja)
299 Leland AR def. 189 Neosho JL (Justin Letts)
267 Cherry Creek SL def. 322 Greenhill DS (Danielle Smogard)
103 Potomac AG (Adam Gerchick) BYE

ROUND 12

258 Liberty KW def. 262 Altamont ST (Shawn Tuteja)
232 Hockaday SV def. 320 James Logan SS (Shahbaz Shaikh)
189 Neosho JL def. 162 Westlake DR (Devin Race)
267 Cherry Creek SL def. 103 Potomac AG (Adam Gerchick)
322 Greenhill DS def. 315 La Salle College SJ (Sean Janda)
299 Leland AR def. 136 Southlake Carroll RB (Ryan Bennett)
175 Trinity Prep JN def. 228 Apple Valley MK (Michelle Keohane)

ROUND 11
262 Altamont ST def. 189 Neosho JL (Justin Letts)
322 Greenhill DS def. 158 Edina DM (David McNeil)
136 Southlake Carroll RB def. 306 South Eugene BS (Ben Schifberg)
315 La Salle SJ def. 273
175 Trinity Prep JN def. 194 Durham GW (Grace Wallack)
267 Cherry Creek SL def. 187
228 Apple Valley MK (Michelle Keohane) def. 221 Barrington AR (Alex Rosenfeld)
258 Liberty KW def. 314 Stuyvesant GS (Georgia Stasinopoulos)
103 Potomac AG def. 299 Leland AR (Aparna Ramanan)
320 James Logan SS def. 195
232 Hockaday SV (Shivani Vohra) def. 146
162 Westlake DR (Devin Race) BYE

ROUND 10
136 v 185
216 v 221 Barrington AR (Alex Rosenfeld)
195 v 103 Potomac AG (Adam Gerlick)
153 Needham KV (Kaushik Vasudevan) v 320
267 v 258
189 Neosho JL def. 314 Stuyvesant GS (Georgia Stasinopoulos)
265 Strake Jesuit NL (Nick Lassus) v 175 Trinity Prep JN (Jake Nebel)
322 Greenhill DS (Danielle Smogard) v 171 Meadows AS (Amanda Signorelli)
158 v 245 Fairview MD (Max Dovala)
228 Apple Valley MK (Michelle Keohane) v 102 Potomac YB
162 Westlake DR (Devin Race) v 299 Leland AR (Aparna Ramanan)
232 Hockaday SV (Shivani Vohra) v 192 Randolph MS (Maddie Stein)
262 Altamont ST (Shawn Tuteja) v 315 La Salle SJ (Sean Janda)
273 v 114
146 v 249 Ridge SR (Shireen Rudina)
252 Lincoln East BW (Barb Walkowiak) v 194 Durham GW (Grace Wallack)
306 South Eugene BS (Ben Schifberg) v 316
187 v 286
221 Barrington AR (Alex Rosenfeld) v

ROUND 9
262 Altamont ST (Shawn Tuteja) v 252 Lincoln East BW (Barb Walkowiak)
249 Ridge SR (Shireen Rudina) v 142 Salado TC (Tyler Cook)
102 Potomac YB v 162 Westlake DR (Devin Race)
207 Cypress Falls SK (Saif Kazim) v 146
258 173
298 136
282 v 228 Apple Valley MK (Michelle Keohane)
286 157
314 Stuyvesant GS def. 245 Fairview MD (Max Dovala)
103 Potomac AG (Adam Gerlick) v 153 Needham KV (Kaushik Vasudevan)
175 Trinity Prep JN (Jake Nebel) v 285 Scarsdale DD (Daniel Daks)
166 Wichita East NA (Norlin Ansari) v 187
290 Jackson CD (Chris Denning) v 322 Greenhill DS (Danielle Smogard)
299 305
266 Strake Jesuit PT (Paul Tyger) v 216
221 Barrington AR (Alex Rosenfeld) v 287
316 267
148 v 265 Strake Jesuit NL (Nick Lassus)
315 La Salle SJ (Sean Janda) v 185
171 Meadows AS (Amanda Signorelli) v 227 Apple Valley KG (Kevin Granlund)
192 195
320 164
189 Neosho JL (Justin Letts) v 306 South Eugene BS (Ben Schifberg)
194 Durham GW (Grace Wallack) v 158
114 101
143 v 232 Hockaday SV (Shivani Vohra)

ROUND 7

252 Lincoln East BW (Barb Walkowiak) vs. 324
149 vs. 314
298 vs. 132
142 Salado TC (Tyler Cook) vs. 148
316 vs. 223
194 Durham GW def. 266 Strake Jesuit PT (Paul Tyger)
292 vs. 171 Meadows AS (Amanda Signorelli)
102 Potomac YB def. 290 Jackson CD (Chris Denning)
189 Neosho JL def. 311 Hawken OD (Omar Diab)
299 vs. 158
164 vs. 143
274 vs. 286
139 vs. 136
114 vs. 185
285 vs. 101
103 vs. 219 Godley JS (Jessica C. Sumner)
305 vs. 227 Apple Valley KG (Kevin Granlund)
153 vs. 221 Barrington AR (Alex Rosenfeld)
322 Greenhill DS (Danielle Smogard) def. 320
315 La Salle SJ def. 226 Saint Louis Park CT (Catherine Tarsney)
195 def. 165 Walt Whitman EN (Ellen Noble)
216 def. 281 Albuquerque IEK (Ian Erickson-Kery)
328 vs. 157
245 Fairview MD (Max Dovala) vs. 209
220 vs. 267
306 vs. 146
244 vs. 258
222 vs. 187
172 vs. 287
282 vs. 192
232 Hockaday SV def. 228 Apple Valley MK (Michelle Keohane)
273 vs. 207 Cypress Falls SK (Saif Kazim)
162 Westlake DR (Devin Race) vs. 175 Trinity Prep JN (Jake Nebel)
249 Ridge SR (Shireen Rudina) vs. 166 Wichita East NA (Norlin Ansari)
262 Altamont ST (Shawn Tuteja) vs. 265 Strake Jesuit NL (Nick Lassus)

ROUND 8

187 vs. 262 Altamont ST (Shawn Tuteja)
158 vs. 274
143 vs. 316
194 Durham GW (Grace Wallack) vs. 273
171 Meadows AS (Amanda Signorelli) vs. 103
314 vs. 244
146 vs. 149
175 vs. 299
315 La Salle SJ (Sean Janda) def. 227 Apple Valley KG (Kevin Granlund)
219 Godley JS (Jessica C. Sumner) vs. 249 Ridge SR (Shireen Rudina)
157 vs. 320
228 Apple Valley MK def. 322 Greenhill DS (Danielle Smogard)
132 vs. 305
136 vs. 114
216 vs. 164
232 Hockaday SV (Shivani Vohra) vs. 245 Fairview MD (Max Dovala)
192 vs. 292
287 vs. 162 Westlake DR (Devin Race)
252 Lincoln East BW def. 226 Saint Louis Park CT (Catherine Tarsney)
185 vs. 172
290 Jackson CD (Chris Denning) def. 281 Albuquerque IEK (Ian Erickson-Kery)
221 Barrington AR (Alex Rosenfeld) vs. 139
207 Cypress Falls SK (Saif Kazim) def. 165 Walt Whitman EN (Ellen Noble)
267 vs. 285
189 Neosho JL (Justin Letts) vs. 328
204 vs. 102 Potomac YB (Yar Batmangelidg)
286 vs. 266 Strake Jesuit PT (Paul Tyger)
265 Strake Jesuit NL (Nick Lassus) vs. 222
166 Wichita East NA (Norlin Ansari) vs. 142 Salado TC (Tyler Cook)
223 vs. 282
148 vs. 153
195 vs. 298
258 vs. 311 Hawken OD (Omar Diab)
324 vs. 306
101 vs. 220

UP 2 AFTER ROUND 8

DOWN 1 AFTER ROUND 8

228 Apple Valley MK
322 Greenhill DS (Danielle Smogard)

DOWN AND OUT AFTER ROUND 8

165 Walt Whitman EN (Ellen Noble)
226 Saint Louis Park CT (Catherine Tarsney)

UP 1 AFTER ROUND 7

Mountain View NP (Natalee Pei)
102 Potomac YB (Yar Batmangelidg)
195
232 Hockaday SV (Shivani Vohra)
315 La Salle SJ (Sean Janda)

DOWN 1 AFTER ROUND 7

Edina DM (David McNeil)
Southlake Carroll RB (Ryan Bennett)
165 Walt Whitman EN (Ellen Noble)
226 Saint Louis Park CT (Catherine Tarsney)
228 Apple Valley MK (Michelle Keohane)
266 Strake Jesuit PT (Paul Tyger)
290 Jackson CD (Chris Denning)
311 Hawken OD (Omar Diab)
320

The National Forensic League uses a double-elimination system in debate; beginning with Rounds 7 and 8, contestants are eliminated once they have have received two losses. Pairings for the elimination rounds are available here.

Results from Round 15 have been posted.

Many thanks to Meg West for compiling an incredible number of Public Forum debate team codes on the first day of the tournament! They have proven invaluable in providing you with more complete coverage.

ROUND 15 - SEMIFINALS

204 Durham KZ (Robert Kindman & Josh Zoffer) v 116 Taravella SZ (Mickael Silangil & Brian Zakarin)
286 St. Andrew’s Episcopal GK (Aditya Gulanikar & Shruti Jaishankar) v 194 Springfield Central MS (Brian McGarry & Ben Shantz)

ROUND 14
194 Springfield Central MS (Brian McGarry & Ben Shantz) v 286 St. Andrew’s Episcopal GK (Aditya Gulanikar & Shruti Jaishankar)
168 Walt Whitman FN (Itai Farhi & Tom Niblock) v 204 Durham KZ (Robert Kindman & Josh Zoffer)
108 Brentwood KC (Katie Thornton & Marshall Cottrell) v 116 Taravella SZ (Mickael Silangil & Brian Zakarin)

ROUND 13

ROUND 12

Many thanks to our friends at PFDebate.com for their assistance in cracking the codes.

168 Walt Whitman FN (Itai Farhi & Tom Niblock) def. 206 University DM (Mike DiMino & Joe Mekhail)
170 Mountain Brook GS (Amanda Grayson & William Schreiber) def. 325 New Trier CG (Zach Collins & Joey Glickman)
204 Durham KZ (Robert Kindman & Josh Zoffer) def. 174
194 Springfield Central MS (Brian McGarry & Ben Shantz) def. 263 Ridge TS (Danielle Taylor & Parsa Salehi)
108 Brentwood KC (Katie Thornton & Marshall Cottrell) vs. 101 Indianola RE (Matt Reisener & Jessie Ede)
286 St. Andrew’s Episcopal GK (Aditya Gulanikar & Shruti Jaishankar) def. 127 Park Hill South LV (Gabe Luna & Parker Viers)
148 def. 292 Myers Park SE (Lee Schuitema & Ramy El Kalioby)
116 Taravella SZ (Mickael Silangil & Brian Zakarin) def. 283 Bellarmine (CA) Parijat Chakrabarti & Vik Singh
247 BYE

ROUND 11

286 St. Andrew’s Episcopal GJ (Aditya Gulanikar & Shruti Jaishankar) v. 338
247 v. 102
103 v. 263
206 University DM (Mike DiMino & Joe Mekhail) v. 113
148 v. 194 Springfield Central MS (Brian McGarry & Ben Shantz)
240 v. 292
122 v. 101 Indianola RE (Matt Reisener & Jessie Ede)
108 Brentwood TC (Katie Thornton & Marshall Cottrell) v. 323
170 v. 135
116 v. 174
168 v. 271
127 Park Hill South LV (Gabe Luna & Parker Viers) v. 283
265 Lincoln East NX (Will M. Nast & Alan Xu) v. 325 New Trier GC (Zach Collins & Joey Glickman)
204 Durham Academy KZ (Robert Kindman & Josh Zoffer) BYE

ROUND 10

194 v. 204
206 v. 148
292 v. 283
271 v. 186
247 v. 125
338 v. 127
174 v. 286
156 v. 263
254 v. 240
118 v. 103
113 v. 106
168 v. 220
282 v. 170
108 v. 245
154 v. 122
195 v. 102
265 v. 175
288 v. 101
146 v. 325
135 v. 116

ROUND 9

206 vs. 240
146 vs. 267
103 vs. 312
194 vs. 247
161 vs. 325
102 vs. 286
156 vs. 142
204 vs. 220
159 vs. 168
116 vs. 249
170 vs. 203
196 vs. 113
181 vs. 101
292 vs. 175
263 vs. 305
282 vs. 148
172 vs. 288
265 vs. 127
163 vs. 245
276 vs. 118
186 vs. 147
128 vs. 154
195 vs. 223
108 vs. 283
254 vs. 185
135 vs. 125
174 vs. 323
106 vs. 338
291 vs. 271
122 BYE

ROUND 7

220 vs. 291
142 vs. 147 La Cueva DE (Akshay Dabeer & Pearce Edwards)
313 vs. 223 Lamar Consolidated VC (Nicole Vital & Susan Czaikowski)
196 Lee’s Summit North MT (Westin Miller & Dylan Terry) vs. 240
202 vs. 203 Taos MM (Carlie Malone & Ryan MacLennan)
249 vs. 108 Brentwood TC (Katie Thornton & Marshall Cottrell)
282 vs. 288
174 vs. 155 Okoboji WB (Katelyn Warburton & Wes Baish)
127 Park Hill South LV (Gabe Luna & Parker Viers) vs. 305 Seven Lakes KD (Jacob Koshak & Steven Delperdang)
263 vs. 276
118 Wheaton North PM (Setu Patel & Rachel McGivern) vs. 310
254 vs. 172
102 vs. 113
312 vs. 116
300 James Madison Memorial SK (Valerie Shen & Lingran Kong) vs. 247
121 Sylvania Northview GG (Alex Gross & Sam Gross) vs. 185 Chesterton DM (Alec Donelson & Dakota McCoy)
181 vs. 136
125 Park Hill South HC (Wyatt Hoffman & Dillon Cassidy) vs. 344
266 vs. 206 University DM (Mike DiMino & Joe Mekhail)
306 vs. 161
148 vs. 128 Park Hill South MB (Alex Meyers & Matt Brown)
175 Northland Christian RW (Cassie Robinson & Jared Woods) vs. 156
182 vs. 146 Galena BS (James Badwick & Adam Sanders)
198 vs. 159
325 New Trier GC (Zach Collins & Joey Glickman) vs. 229 Jackson Hole KL (Brandon Kapelow & Mark Langer)
135 vs. 153 Broken Arrow LB (Justin Langston & Jeremy Barnes)
163 vs. 283
168 vs. 245
122 vs. 106
239 vs. 170
204 vs. 257
295 Sprague FM (Liz Fetherston & James Miller) vs. 286 St. Andrew’s Episcopal GJ (Aditya Gulanikar & Shruti Jaishankar)
195 vs. 323
269 vs. 154
238 vs. 292
304 vs. 194 Springfield Central MS (Brian McGarry & Ben Shantz)
338 vs. 272 Appleton East ML (Ruth Markward & Mark Lindsay)
132 Gig Harbor VC (Austin Vaarvik & Vladimit Chlonbov) vs. 265 Lincoln East NX (Will M. Nast & Alan Xu)
267 Cheyenne East RB (Eleya Randall & Matt Burns) vs. 298
271 vs. 101 Indianola RE (Matt Reisener & Jessie Ede)
103 BYE

The National Forensic League uses a double-elimination system in debate; beginning with Rounds 7 and 8, contestants are eliminated once they have have received two losses. Pairings for the elimination rounds are available here.

Round 13 has been posted in policy; semis pairings have been posted for DI, Duo, HI, and OO. Round 10 pairings for both extemp events have been posted.

Note: these results are unofficial and should not be considered a replacement for looking at an actual pairing at the tournament.

Many thanks to correspondent Adam Torson and to our friends at Planet Debate for their assistance with the coverage.

The top fourteen speakers in policy debate have been announced; click here to find out who they are.

POLICY DEBATE — ROUND 14

145 v Rowland Hall AF
Colleyville Heritage MN v Damien EH
280 - BYE

POLICY DEBATE — ROUND 13

196 vs. 280
285 Rowland Hall AF vs. 156 Glenbrook South
207 Damien EH vs. 297 Ladue Horton Watkins BC
183 Colleyville Heritage MN BYE

POLICY DEBATE — ROUND 12

126 v. 196
156 v. 150
280 v. 285
207 v. 162
183 v. 132
145 v. 120
297 v. 256

POLICY DEBATE — ROUND 11

150 v. 282
184 v. 145
162 v. 202
280 v. 120
196 v. 168
109 v. 183
256 v. 138
132 v. 248
285 v. 207
231 v. 126
254 v. 297
156 BYE

POLICY DEBATE — ROUND 10

248 v. 207
280 v. 150
103 v. 145
120 v. 156
191 v. 109
282 v. 209
162 v. 138
196 v. 233
202 v. 181
135 v. 231
168 v. 272
254 v. 129
132 v. 134
256 v. 154
285 v. 183
273 v. 297
126 v. 133
184 BYE

POLICY DEBATE — ROUND 9

133 v. 174
272 v. 248
145 v. 193
297 v. 285
227 v. 191
183 v. 202
211 v. 132
188 v. 154
271 v. 256
138 v. 135
134 v. 144
267 v. 168
129 v. 162
120 v. 282
214 v. 102
150 v. 273
209 v. 280
231 v. 194
233 v. 166
156 v. 126
207 v. 110
125 v. 196
181 v. 290
230 v. 284
226 v. 254
109 BYE

POLICY DEBATE — ROUND 8

Courtesy of Planet Debate.

33 ONlHS 101 X243 XI94 42J112 43J135 20J115
28 OMHS 102 XI91 X203 09J133 04J152 07J166
32 OMHS 103 X267 X231 45J129 07J134 10J127
10 OMHS 104 XI33 XI45 45J210 24J103 42J110
26 OMHS 105 X285 X214 45J240 07Jll I 46J109
24 OMHS 106 X233 XI99 23J157 45J128 42J166
20 OMHS 107 XI92 X211 34J115 07J162 11J102
22 OMHS 108 X208 XI34 26J118 04J138 37J147
4 OMHS 109 X235 XI20 45J107 23J137 46J103
29 OMHSllO XI62 XI24 45J199 08J146 37J163
3 OMHS111 XI37 X271 10J126 42J160 33J108
13 OMHS112 XI56 X200 45J235 26J106 06J118
21 OMHS 113 XI54 X282 07J172 37J200 35J110
2 OMHS 114 XI10 X273 18J151 15Jlll 20J133
34 ONIHS 115 XI25 XI12 02J136 45J163 08J121
16 OMHS116 X272 XI81 09J135 24J109 45J102
9 OMHS117 X254 XI38 05J124 24Jl I I 45J294
12 OMHS118 XI42 X280 34J104 36J119 45J169
17 OMHS119 XI59 XI93 25J101 01J116 07J152
19 OMHS 122 X218 X207 04J120 43J145 17J135
6 ONlHS 123 X248 XI74 45J268 04J113 29J134
14 OMHS124 XI23 XI35 07J107 40J104 37J226
31 OMHS 125 X226 XI22 42J164 43J126 45J184
8 OMHS 127 XI26 XI02 40J101 08J135 45J114
25 OMHS 128 XI96 X230 43J134 07J131 30J102
11 OMHS129 XI50 XI68 04J106 45J279 30J117
7 OMHS130 XI83 X227 18J153 37J213 12J118
30 OMHS 131 X301 XI29 17J110 26J102 42J163
27 OMHS 132 XI41 XI84 17J106 37J196 07J110
15 OMHS 133 X202 XI09 43J109 02J134 37J179
18 OMHS 134 X256 XI66 20J131 30Jlll 37J164
23 OMHS 135 XI44 XI32 26Jlll 39J116 17J126
5 OMHS 136 X224 X297 45J166 07J130 06J125
35 OMHS 137 X209 X290 15J110 24J113 17J132
XI88 BYE

POLICY DEBATE — ROUND 7

199 vs. 183
203 vs. 126
297 vs. 137
145 vs. 218
129 vs. 144
166 vs. 267
135 vs. 224
109 vs. 226
102 vs. 196
194 vs. 248
207 vs. 301
134 vs. 156
230 vs. 256
124 vs. 272
227 vs. 243
168 vs. 191
181 vs. 192
200 vs. 202
290 vs. 123
138 vs. 159
174 vs. 233
120 vs. 125
193 vs. 162
211 vs. 209
122 vs. 154
122 vs. 150
184 vs. 285
132 vs. 188
214 vs. 235
231 vs. 142
280 vs. 208
282 vs. 133
271 vs. 254
273 vs. 141
110 BYE

POLICY DEBATE — BREAKS

102, 109, 110, 112, 120, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 129, 132, 133, 134, 135, 137, 138, 141, 142, 144, 145, 150, 154, 156, 159, 162, 166, 168, 174, 181, 183, 184, 188, 191, 192, 193, 194, 196, 199, 200, 202, 203, 207, 208, 209, 211, 214, 218, 224, 226, 227, 230, 231, 233, 235, 243, 248, 254, 256, 267, 271, 272, 273, 280, 282, 285, 290, 297, 301

DOMESTIC EXTEMP — ROUND 10

108 153 146 174 203
230 180 185 177 121
257 113 219 303 249
269 189 227 101 291
306 316 284 138 125
308 315 301 217 310

DOMESTIC EXTEMP — BREAKS

101 108 113 119 120 121 125 138 146 151 153 156 173 174 175 177 178 179 180 183 185 189 196 197 201 203 207 211 217 219 220 226 227 230 232 234 236 242 247 249 257 258 269 270 279 280 284 287 291 299 301 303 306 308 310 315 316 317 323 325

DRAMATIC INTERPRETATION — SEMIS

319
299
193
280
134
251
258

171
237
170
212
317
233
235

DRAMATIC INTERPRETATION — ROUND 10

150 325 171 235 196
303 134 243 328 193
299 251 237 258 152
212 330 159 319 154
312 227 265 280 188
170 233 230 326 317

DUO INTERPRETATION — SEMIS

176
201
304
146
148
163
229

310
228
250
205
230
220
150

DUO INTERPRETATION — ROUND 10

321 230 201 220 314
221 205 240 239 304
292 110 163 309 217
250 293 275 165 303
150 236 310 148 229
176 200 228 196 146

HUMOROUS INTERPRETATION — SEMIS

160
287
255
251
171
195
214

191
305
321
288
311
267
115

HUMOROUS INTERPRETATION — ROUND 10

195 305 313 111 287
226 267 191 255 132
311 300 154 229 254
251 321 171 162 160
159 275 288 220 211
180 108 198 115 214

INTERNATIONAL EXTEMP — ROUND 10

304 147 178 318 248
276 281 313 165 267
296 233 284 146 151
173 250 166 266 301
171 148 194 252 145
158 206 216 307 168

INTERNATIONAL EXTEMP — BREAKS

109 110 111 124 130 134 145 146 147 148 150154158 165 166 168 169 170 171 173 178 182 183 184 193 194 204 206 209 210 213 216 222 224 226 228 233 245 248 250 251 252 254 266 267 272 276 281 284 285 290 296 301 304 305 307 313 314316 318

ORIGINAL ORATORY — SEMIS

105
140
205
265
111
287
210

266
190
220
216
204
302
277

ORIGINAL ORATORY — ROUND 10

274 216 226 145 140
223 220 111 142 204
110 266 219 265 250
113 323 222 316 310
205 287 213 187 302
190 231 277 105 210

Brittain is a four-diamond coach in the National Forensic League; he became an NFL coach in 1969 and was an NFL member as a student in 1962.

Twenty-seven district chairs received different levels of commendation from the National Forensic League.

The twenty-seven coaches, in the order presented by the National Forensic League, are listed below.

GOLD AWARD
David Matley — San Francisco Bay District (CA)
Ann C. Stepp — Hoosier Crossroads District (IN)
Robert Brittain — Northeast Indiana District
David McKenzie — Northwest Indiana District
Timothy Sheaff — West Iowa District
Pamela K. McComas — Kansas Flint Hills District
Darrell Harbaugh — South Kansas District
Steven Wood — Three Trails District (KS)
Matthew Good — Show Me District (MO)
Michael Traas — Northern Wisconsin District

SILVER AWARD
Victor Jih — West Los Angeles District (CA)
Chris McDonald — Southern Minnesota District
Nancy Wedgeworth — Ozark District (MO)
Mary T. Gormley — New Jersey District
Linda Shipley — East Oklahoma District
Janice Caldwell — UIL District (TX)
Patricia Smith — Wind River District (WY)

BRONZE AWARD
Diana Roza — Big Valley District (CA)
Adam Nelson — California Coast District
Beth Goldman — Florida Manatee District
Michael Harvey — Idaho Mountain River District
Tara Tate — Northern Illinois District
Debbie Johnson — Heart of Texas District
Cheryl Potts — Lone Star District (TX)
David Huston — North Texas Longhorns District
B.A. Gregg — Virginia District
Walter Farwell — Hole in the Wall District (WY)

The members are:

Tim Case — Presentation High School (CA)
Lydia Esslinger — Sysoset High School (NY), co-chair
Dave McGinnis — Valley High School (IA)
Dan Meyers — The Meadows School (NV)
Lowell Sharp — Golden High School (CO), co-chair
Linda Shipley — Bartlesville High School (OK)
Aaron Timmons — Greenhill School (TX)
Joe Vaughan — Scarsdale High School (NY)
Jim Wakefield — Fort Lauderdale High SchooL (FL)

You can follow the photographic updates at the Victory Briefs Photo Gallery. The photographs are archived under “08/09 Nationals.”

Rye was recently interviewed for VBD’s inaugural installment of “Across America,” which featured the Montgomery Academy.

Edward G. Taylor of Oakville Senior High School was recognized as the Best New Chair (he is the chair of the Eastern Missouri District), while Jimmy Smith of Princeton High School was recognized for Best Chair Communications (he is the chair of the LBJ District).

Lincoln-Douglas Debate Pairings
Public Forum Debate Pairings
Policy Debate Pairings
Individual Events Pairings

You can follow the photographic updates at the Victory Briefs Photo Gallery. The photographs are archived under “08/09 Nationals.”

LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE

Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6

PUBLIC FORUM DEBATE

Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6

POLICY DEBATE

Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6

DRAMATIC INTERPRETATION

Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6

DUO INTERPRETATION

Forthcoming.

EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEAKING — DOMESTIC

Forthcoming.

EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEAKING — INTERNATIONAL

Forthcoming.

HUMOROUS INTERPRETATION

Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6

ORIGINAL ORATORY

Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6

If you’re competing in Lincoln-Douglas debate or policy debate and you don’t get a chance to stop by the Victory Briefs table at the NFL Expo, click here to share your code.

If you’re competing in policy debate or the Individual Events, click here to share your code.

This week at Nationals, we hope to use the Twitter to help collect information and codes as the tournament progresses. We will tweet on Twitter and post on this web site with updates all week long.

We are excited to provide this service to the debate community to assist in our coverage of tournaments going forward.

The full list of entries provided by the National Forensic League for Lincoln-Douglas debate and Public Forum debate, listed by districts, is available here.

Alaska
PF –
Ryan Smalley & Chris Bowman, Haines
LD –
Kenneth Hubbell, South Anchorage

Arizona
PF –
Yassamin Ansari & Stefani Jones, Chaparral
Brandon Kessler & Will Cawthon, Dobson
Michael Ferrante & Alex Daniel, Dobson
LD –
None Listed

Big Valley
PF –
Brian Lewis & Alex Paramo, Johanson
Jessica Saloman & Lauren Hook, James Enochs
LD –
Tyson Bonaparte, Bear Creek
Ashton Bukko, Enochs

California Coast
PF –
Kaavya Gowda & Kelsey Hilbrich, Harker
Parijat Chakrabarti & Vik Singh, Bellarmine
Christopher Nguyen & Sateg Soman, Bellarmine
LD –
Natalee Pei, Mountain View
Albert Lin, Leland
Aparna Ramanan, Leland

Capitol Valley
PF –
Enoch Sim & Daniel Weissbart, Ponderosa
Matthew O’Brien & Gary Nielsen, Granite Bay
LD –
Sarika Ramakrishnan, Mira Loma
Justin Lin, Mira Loma

Carolina West
PF –
Riley Hurst & Ivana Beveridge, Asheville
Joey Heffner & Eimile Stokes, North Mecklenburg
LD –
Rasesh Joshi, Myers Park
Jakob I. Cartier, Asheville

Carver Truman
PF –
Nic Kennedy & Christopher Isbell, Monett
Jeromy Alexander & Aaron Walker, Neosho
Ethan Samuel & William Townsend, Neosho
LD –
Justin Letts, Neosho
George Brauer, Nevada

Central Minnesota
PF –
Abbie Gotter & Maria Owen, Apple Valley
Semira Mohammed & Elle Schultz, Eastview
Sam Hughes & Morgan Vink, Anoka
LD –
Michelle Keohane, Appley Valley
Chris Theis, Apple Valley
Kevin Granlund, Apple Valley

Central Texas
PF –
Davin Stevens & Mihajlo Gasic, Sandra Day O’Connor
Kirk Senseman & Karl Goering, Winston Churchill
Megan Owen & Rachel Kutler, Tom C. Clark
LD –
Lynn Bimler, Winston Churchill
Jordan Y. Nerison, Ronald Reagan

Chesapeake
PF –
Gerrit Spieker & Ryan Meadows, Winters Mill
Itai Farhi & T om Niblock, Walt Whitman
LD –
Ben Lewis, Walt Whitman
Connor Acle, Loyola Blakefield

Colorado
PF –
Alex P. Ungerman & Josh Khalil, Overland
Paola Segura & Dean Magnuson, Overland
Connor Hegedus & Sean Pluta, Mullen
LD –
Stephen Lurie, Cherry Creek
Max Dovala, Fairview
Madison S. Lips, Chaparral

Colorado Grande
PF –
Kenneth P. Medina & Bryndee N. Peterson,
Centennial
Kevin Li & Christopher Corey, Centennial
LD –
Katie Chapman, Delta
Rachel Cinlemis, St. Mary’s
Plaque — St. Mary’s
Trophy — Central of Grand Junction

Deep South
PF –
Amanda Grayson & William Schreiber, Mountain Brook
Rachel Conry & Ross Pearlman, Vestavia Hills
Zach Grate & Amy Shannon, Saint James
LD –
Shawn Tutaja, Altamont
Kevin Sipe, Vestavia Hills

East Iowa
PF –
Matt Reisener & Jessie Ede, Indianola
Thomas Ewing & Graham Flitz, Iowa City West
LD –
Graham Tierney, Iowa City West
Kui Tang, Iowa City West

East Kansas
PF –
Mary Rometti & Drew Gregory, Bishop Miege
Erin Alexander & Shawn Herrington, Bishop Miege
LD –
Hannah J. Lusk, Lawrence
Cory Newman, Shawnee Mission West

East Los Angeles
PF –
Oscar Huang & Rachel Yang, San Marino
Michael Chiu & Sona Jain, San Marino
Aaron Huang & Billy Le, Gabrielino
LD –
Kevin Wu, San Marino
Jane Davidson, Polytechnic
Eric Z. Wu, San Marino

East Missouri
PF –
Geoff King & Kyle Anzalone, Oakville
Stacy Luo & Adam Friedman, Parkway West
Theresa Mullineaux & Sophia Mullineaux, Pattonville
Katie Koenig & David Bruns-Smith, Ladue Horton Watkins
LD –
Jocelyn Streid, Ladue Horton Watkins
Chris Dopuch, Marquette
Jake Lyonfields, Parkway West

East Texas
PF –
James Cossey & Jonathan Crews, Northland Christian School
Carolyn Mao & Seema Anand, William P. Clements
Cassie Robinson & Jared Woods, Northland Christian School
LD –
Josh Roberts, Northland Christian School
Sara Meghji, Cypress Falls
Saif Kazim, Cypress Falls

Eastern Ohio
PF –
Matt McBurney & Rebecca Messinger, Stow-Munroe Falls
Olivia Johnson & Micah Johnson, Jackson
Lauren Romick & Sara Ramcharran, Stow-Munroe Falls
LD –
Sharanbir Grewal, Wooster
Chris Denning, Jackson

Eastern Oklahoma
PF –
Cristina Facci & Kayla Koch, Tulsa-Washington
Justin Langston & Jeremy Barnes, Broken Arrow
LD –
Kelsi Morgan, Owasso
M. Blake McCracken, Bartlesville
Alexandra Patton, Broken Arrow

Florida Manatee
PF –
Brian Zakarin & Mickael Silangil, Taravella HS Sr.
Russell Morgan & AJ Perez, Stoneman Douglas
Matthew Gold & Czar Bernstein, Ft. Lauderdale
LD –
Josh Tupler, University School
Fredrick Ditziad, Ft. Lauderdale

Florida Panther
PF –
Kaitlyn Westerberg & Tad Ewald, Timber Creek
William Haynes & Chris Chessman, Suncoast
LD –
Jake Nebel, Trinity Preparatory School
Bryan Wilder, Legacy

Florida Sunshine
PF –
Chris Dugre & Jacob Davis, Niceville
Kyllie Gardner & James Small, Sarasota
LD –
Curtis Miller, Sarasota
Andrew Hoeft, Sarasota

Georgia Northern Mountain
PF –
Michael Robinson & Lucas Bailey, Henry W. Grady
Patrick Angulo & Chris Trammell, St. Pius X Catholic
LD –
Stephanie C. Styles, Henry W. Grady
Tyler Olson, Henry W. Grady

Georgia Southern Peach
PF –
Earnest Brown & Ivory Goudy, Southwest DeKalb
Ben Battles & Jordan Certeza, Fayette County
LD –
Eric Bogert, Fayette County
Martin Halicek, Starr’s Mill

Golden Desert
PF –
Aarin Kevorkian & Hilary Williams, Foothill
Noel Gordon & Audrey N. Darreguet, Coronado
Brittney Regal & Leah Yaffe, Green Valley
LD –
Jordan LaMothe, The Meadows School
Amanda Signorelli, The Meadows School
Dylan Kama, Green Valley

Great Salt Lake
PF –
Nathaniel Pribil & Trevor Free, Lone Peak
Lisa Pazzi & Dixon Li, Skyline
LD –
Cameron Partovi, Lone Peak
Joanna Zheng, Salt Lake City West

Greater Illinois
PF –
Lindsay Hansard & Eddie Cox, Belleville West
LD –
Nathan Bailey, Granite City

Gulf Coast
PF –
Victor Canales & Sethi Vishal, Richard B. King
Brittney Xu & Jennifer Hsu, Calhoun
LD –
Philip Wiseman, Calhoun
Michael Valdez, Memorial

Hawaii
PF –
Emily Liu & Brady Magaoay, Kamehameha Schools
Naomi Fujik & Julia Hirata, Punahou School
LD –
Amelia Harvey, Kamehameha Schools

Heart of America
PF –
Alex Meyers & Matt Brown, Park Hill South
Jon Gabriel Luna & Parker Viers, Park Hill South
Wyatt Hoffman & Dillon Cassidy, Park Hill South
David Leader & Jake Bailey, Park Hill South
LD –
Tim White, Liberty
Maisie Baldwin, Park Hill South
Andi Fink, Park Hill South
Katelin Whittaker, Liberty

Heart of Texas
PF –
Winston Berg & Stephen Hurt, Southlake Carroll
Zachary Midboe & Ian Steigmeyer, Lake Travis
LD –
Devin Race, Westlake
Ryan Bennett, Southlake Carroll

Hole in the Wall
PF –
Eleya Randall & Matthew C. Burns, Cheyenne East
Matt Richards & Michael Richards, Cheyenne East
LD –
Hunter Hebestreet, Campbell County
Trevor Stith, Newcastle

Hoosier Heartland
PF –
Lauren Howard & Ebony Ford, Ben Davis
Weston Coward & Carlos Bello, Reitz Memorial
LD –
Henry Zhao, West Lafayette
Alexis Figueroa, Ben Davis

Hoosier Crossroads
PF –
Sara Staszak & John P. Kennedy, Brebeuf Jesuit Prep
Jacob W. Bonifield & Barrett J. Tenbarge, Brebeuf Jesuit Prep
LD –
Hunter Goble, Brebeuf Jesuit Prep
Kumar G. Mantravadi, Kokomo

Idaho Mountain River
PF –
Joe Ficarra & Mitchell Miller, Hillcrest
Brock Sondrup & Davis Milton, Hillcrest
Curtis L. Bean & Erin T. Smith, Blackfoot
LD –
Alyson M. Gigger, Century
Andrew Marquette, Century
Ted Ellsworth, Skyline

Idaho Gem of the Mountains
PF –
Ashley L. Brewer & Calen R. Cromwell, Skyview
Jacob Knudsen & Brandon Ferguson, Rocky Mountain
Andrew T. Ward & Jordan Bishop, Borah
LD –
Dayton Uttinger, Mountain View
Taylor J. Galusha, Meridian

Illini
PF –
Daniel M. McNulty & Kevin Berning, Downers
Grove South
Ethan Brauer & April Jenkins, Wheaton North
Setu Patel & Rachel McGivern, Wheaton North
LD –
Iam Koziara, Wheaton North
Joshua Oakley, Wheaton North
Colleen DeRosa, Downers Grove South

Inland Empire
PF –
Tim Viall & John J. LeBlanc, University
Wyatt Volkmann & James Ganas, Central Valley
LD –
Evan McCarty, Coeur d’Alene
Matthew Hall, Lake City

Iroquois
PF –
Meredith Grubb & Devon Holland, Spaulding
Paul Seaver & Manuel Grajeda, Hartford
LD –
April Bailey, Oneonta

Kansas Flint Hills
PF –
Garret Mentzer & Brandon Frost, Seaman
Crystal Ann Montgomery & Anna Marie Zimmerman, Topeka
LD –
Sarah Padgett, Topeka
Jaeton B. T. Martin, Silver Lake

Kentucky
PF –
James Mohan & Cole Steber, Danville
LD –
Wes Farley, Beechwood
Michael Mannen, Fern Creek Traditional

Korea
PF –
So Hyun Eum & Jeewon Yoo, Daewon Foreign Language High School
Moon Yeol Lee & Joo Yeon Kim, Hankuk Academy of Foreign Studies

LBJ
PF –
Sheba Asalm & Julien Teel, Berkner
Dylan Losey & Moshe Dolejsi, Vanguard College Prep
LD –
Reyna Shields, Ferris
Jessica C. Sumner, Godley
Taylor Pearson, Terrell
Tanreka Smith, Longview

Lone Star
PF –
Timothy Tsang & Jason Wang, Plano Senior
Nishan Hooda & Aamer Husain, Plano West
LD –
Tomas Lorinc, Plano Senior
Danielle Smogard, Greenhill

Louisiana
PF –
Ray Swalley & Randy Dolin, Riverdale
Scott Tilton & Austin Speaker, Jesuit-New Orleans
LD –
Jacob Lipman, Bolton
Kara Ramsey, St. Joseph’s Academy

Maine
PF –
Benjamin Claeson & Caleb Shortt, Bangor
LD –
Christian P. Schneider, Brunswick

Michigan
No debate entries listed.

Mississippi
PF –
Will Bedwell & Steven Wild, Oak Grove
Shruti Jaishankar & Aditya Gulanikar, St. Andrew’s Episcopal School
LD –
Kristen Greer, Oak Grove
Tim Shinn, St. Joseph Catholic School
Meredith Blackwell, St. Andrew’s Episcopal School

Montana
PF –
Min Sheehy & Devan Elmore, Sentinel
Chad Dokken & Sam Uhlmann, Bozeman
Becca Boslough & Mary Beali, Capital
LD –
Michelle Hiebert, Butte
Drew Dokken, Bozeman
John Patrick, Glacier

Nebraska
PF –
Betty Y. Liu & Katie Truitt, Millard West
Jack Zhang & Bilal Kamal, Lincoln Southwest
LD –
Brent Young, Millard West
Paul Poulsen, Lincoln Southwest

Nebraska South
PF –
William Lonn & Trevor Brass, Lincoln East
Will Scheideler & Alan Xu, Lincoln East
LD –
Barb Walkowiak, Lincoln East
Jonathan Feingold, Lincoln East

New England
PF –
Nate Richardson & Katherine Towell, Shrewsbury
Daniel Cmejla & Dane Weinberger, Lincoln Sudbury Regional
Alexander Jacobs & John Weinstein, Lincoln Sudbury Regional
LD –
Kaushik Vasudevan, Needham
Nathan Lintz, Needham

New Jersey
PF –
Danielle Taylor & Parsa Salehi, Ridge
Brennan McCormick & Colm Cross, Delbarton School
Stelianos Cambilis & Vivek Prakash, Bridgewater-Raritan Regional
LD –
Shireen Rudina, Ridge
Stephen Rabideau, Timothy Christian School
Asish Gupta, Morristown

New Mexico
PF –
Pearce Edwards & Akshay Dabeer, La Cueva
Ryan MacLennan & Carlie Malone, Taos
LD –
Daniel Cox, Los Alamos
Ian Erickson-Kery, Albuquerque Academy

New York City
PF –
Drew Marconi & Alex Powers, Regis
Matthew McNierney & Michael Russell, Regis
James Lampariello & Joseph Gasperetti, Regis
LD –
Georgia Stasinopoulos, Stuyvesant
Andrew Giambrone, Regis
Jared Dummitt, Stuyvesant

New York State
PF –
Alex Valdivinos & Vincent Sayseng, Iona Prep
Alon Daks & Goeffrey Kristof, Scarsdale
LD –
Oliver Roth, Scarsdale
Daniel Daks, Scarsdale

North Coast
PF –
Joseph Mekhail & Michael P. DiMino, University
Michael Gwin & Ozan Cubukcu, Hawken
Kyle G. Kaysela & Bardia R. Rahmani, University
LD –
Vinay A. Prasad, University
Omar Diab, Hawken

North Dakota Roughrider
PF –
Jennifer Vetter & Tirazh Werthern, Fargo Shanley
John Mitzel & Matthew Budke, Fargo South
LD –
Jeff Fricker, Fargo South
Ian Yocum, Fargo South

North Texas Longhorn
PF –
Ayushi Agarwala & Justin Ying, Vines
Binita Patel & Saima Hirani, Colleyville Heritage
Sydney E. Scott & Matthew R. Hinojosa, Flower Mound
LD –
Carson Chalmers, Marcus
Shivani Vohra, Hockaday

Northern Illinois
PF –
Joseph Avalanche Glickman & Zachary M. Cololins, New Trier Township
Joseph P. Eichenbaum & David W. Walcha, New Trier Township
LD –
Alex Rosenfeld, Barrington
Chris Katrakis, Barrington

Northeast Indiana
PF –
Alec M. Donelson & Dakota McCoy, Chesterton
Luke S. Morgan & Spencer Hadley, Chesterton
LD –
Arlan M. Brooks, Chesterton
Megan M. Adamczewski, Chesterton

Northwest Indiana
PF –
Alllison M. Feikes & Michael K. Lehner, LaPorte
Suzanne Kawamieh & Maya Major, Valparaiso
LD –
Nyati Shah, Munster
Hannah Scupham, Valparaiso

Northern Lights
PF –
Justin McDowell & Jessica Larson, Dilworth Glyndon Felton
Thomas Freeman & Chelsea Holub, Brainert
LD –
Brian Ashburn, Brainerd
Jenna Riley, Brainerd

Northern Ohio
PF –
Emma Shebat & Mark Pagano, Canfield
James Toliver & Cathy George, Ursuline
LD –
Elena Svenson, Boardman
Chris Kiriakou, Howland

Northern Oregon
PF –
Liz Fethersten & James Miller, Sprague
Joseph Sullivan-Springhetti & Ram Naraya, Beaverton
Kyle Teegarden & Rishi Rajani, Lakeridge
LD –
Segun Babatunde, Clackamas
Evan G. Marshall, Westview

Northern South Dakota
PF –
Ellie Reynen & Kelsey Johnson, Milbank
Erin Shoenbeck & Zach Schmidt, Watertown
LD –
Alexander Friedrichsen, Aberdeen Central
Alexander Downing, Aberdeen Central

Northern Wisconsin
PF –
Ruth Markwardt & Mark Lindsey, Appleton East
Adam Matula & Morgan Pitz, Kimberly
LD –
Kyle Felker, Winneconne

Ozark
PF –
Alexander Ndikum & Mitchell Smith, Parkview
Brian McGarry & Ben Shantz, Central HS - Springfield
Travis Robinson & Jarret Chaney, Nixa
LD –
Lacon Smith, Houston
Devin Kelsey, Parkview
Clifton Luber, Camdenton

Pennsylvania
PF –
Frances Black & Samantha DeFlitch, Norwin
LD –
Marla Sacks, Greater Latrobe

Pittsburgh
PF –
Serafina Lanna & Nicholas Osborne, Mt. Lebanon
Doug Kulchar & Nathaniel Keen, North Allegheny
LD –
J. P. Gooderham, Upper Saint Clair
Eliana Rabinowitz, North Allegheny

Puget Sound
PF –
Kate Lawrenz & Laura Burroughs, Kamiak
Max Cho & Bruce Hill, Shorecrest
LD –
Sean Michael Peerenboom, Tahoma Sr.
Lauren Greenawalt, Bainbridge

Rocky Mountain North
PF –
Eugene Wan & Kurt Girard, Centaurus
Maggie Jackson & Megan Valentine, Centaurus
LD –
Amanda Woods, Longmont
Jill Petrie, Rocky Mountain

Rocky Mountain South
PF –
Tierney Brown & Cody Mortell, Lakewood
Gabe Neslin & Lawson Williams, George
Washington
LD –
Amelia B. Kreienkamp, Lakewood
Alexander Fan, Lakewood
Plaque — Lakewood
Trophy — Pomona

Rushmore
PF –
Meg Henrickson & Chris Marlow, Yankton
Kyle Bargmann & Benjamin Christianson, Stevens
Alissa Olson & Zachary Pogany, Washington
LD –
Blake Neff, Sioux Falls Lincoln
Robert Mikhayelyan, Sioux Falls Lincoln

Sagebrush
PF –
James Badwick & Adam Sanders, Galena
Robert Perez & Lance Gonzalez, Bishop Manogue Catholic
LD –
Robert Parker, Churchill County
Carson Corporon, Reno

San Francisco Bay
PF –
Maria A. Theophanous & Michelle A. Chern, Miramonte
Erica M. Furer & Anne Holbrook McKenna, Bentley
Sean C. Houseworth & Chelsea N. DeVries, Miramonte
LD –
Percia Safar, Monte Vista
Shabaz Shaik, James Logan
Paul Strauch, College Prep

Show Me
PF –
Brian L. Charles & Jerome T. Link, Raytown South
Austin Caldwell & Foster Honeck, The Pembroke Hill School
Westin Miller & Dylan C. Terry, Lee’s Summit North
LD –
Alex Eichstandt, Blue Springs
Broderick B. Hayes, Lee’s Summit North
Brittany Thomas, Blue Springs

Sierra
PF –
Cameron Moody & Parker Schill, Liberty
Quinn Buniel & Lance Castillo, Frontier
Alec Chan Golston & Jake Hughson, Clovis East
LD –
Brice Ezell, Bakersfield Christian
Courtney Shipp, Centennial
Kelsey White, Centennial

Singapore
No debate entries listed.

South Carolina
PF –
Jaret Marr & Blair Brewer, Southside
Ryan Karrer & Paavan Gami, Southside
LD –
Akshay Kumar, Southside
Jonathan A. Ludwig, Bob Jones Academy

South Florida
PF –
Jordan Flanzraich & Harrison Grussmark,
Ransom Everglades Upper Schools
Amanda Scherker & Austin Criden, Ransom Everglades Upper Schools
LD –
Nicholas Pedroso, Ransom Everglades
Michael Levenstein, Coral Gables Sr.

South Kansas
PF –
Daniel Lyon & Chase Rooks, Fort Scott
Blake Cowen & T ony Jackson, Fort Scott
LD –
Steven Schaaf, Derby
Joe Reichard, Fort Scott

South Oregon
PF –
Dante Toppo & Mack Conroy, Ashland
Jessica Glennon & Shelby Davis-Cooper, Willamette
LD –
Ben Schifberg, South Eugene
Joliene Chaffee, Bandon

South Texas
PF –
Raven McGuane & Cody Orr, Lamar Consolidated
Nicole Vital & Susan Czaikowski, Lamar Consolidated
Andrew W. Chacko & Raj Balvant Mistry, LV Hightower
LD –
Liuna Fekravar, Westside
Paul Tyger, Strake Jesuit
Nick Lassus, Strake Jesuit
Sara Zaman, Mayde Creek

Southern California
PF –
Keyrollus Ibrahim & Jeremy Wertz, Carlsbad
Andrew Dorr & Alex Newgard, LaCosta Canyon
LD –
Fritz Pielstick, Claremont
Mostafa Al-Alusi, Torrey Pines

Southern Minnesota
PF –
Titus Mathew & Viroopa Volla, Eagan
Emily Dallager & Miles Norman, Eagan
Rachel Markon & Christian Reynolds, Eagan
LD –
David McNeil, Edina
Catherine Tarsney, St. Louis Park
Christian Keil, Lakeville South

Southern Wisconsin
PF –
Valerie Shen & Lingran Kong, James Madison Memorial
Abilash Seshadri & Rachel T. Wang, James Madison Memorial
LD –
Brendan Caldwell, James Madison Memorial
Iris Xu, James Madison Memorial

Space City
PF –
Jacob Koshak & Steven Delperdang, Seven Lakes
Jennifer Tran & Tirhakah Love, Hastings
LD –
Joshua Tang, Kerr
Phillip Yang, Stafford

Sundance
PF –
Blake Ellison & David Markovitz, Hillcrest
Kevin Heiner & Jonathan Pedregon, Hillcrest
LD –
Tylan Stewart, Alta
Connor Dehlin, Alta
Hayley Webb, Juab

Sunflower
PF –
Nathan Bradley & Samanvitha Sridhar, Wichita East
Kassidee C. Lank & Salman Husain, Wichita East
LD –
Norlin Ansari, Wichita East
Tom Garvey, Valley Center

Tall Cotton
PF –
Thad Loftis & Jessica Rubio, Big Spring
John Riddle & Lance Wells, Borger
LD –
Nirav N. Patel, Snyder
Shai Vogler, Tascosa

Tarheel East
PF –
Josh Zoffer & Robert Kindman, Durham Academy
Caleb Frye & Meredith Potter, Pinecrest
Firoz Jameel & Andrew Copland, Cary Academy
LD –
Grace Wallack, Durham Academy
Madelyn Powell, Jack Britt

Tennessee
PF –
Maulin Shah & Michael Zoorob, Brentwood HS
Patrick Kellett & Will Stern, Brentwood HS
LD –
Clark Hildabrand, Battle Ground Academy

Three Trails
PF –
Sirus Saeedpour & Ideen Saledian, Blue Valley West
Gabrielle Guillory & Ciera Foreman, Blue Valley North
LD –
Kevin Krouse, Olathe East
John Carney, Blue Valley Northwest

UIL
PF –
Judith Schomp & Michelle Haines, Lindale
Ethan Hughes & Harrison Jenkins, All Saints Episcopal
LD –
Tyler Cook, Salado
Zach Wesley, Crandall
Laci Trevenio, Athens

Utah Wasatch
PF –
Brendan Cannon & Josh DeFriez, Sky View
Broke Siler & Natalie Brisighella, Sky View
Kenny Cluff & Ashlee Cawley, Viewmont
LD –
Justin Jerez, Sky View
Dustin Phelps, Davis

Valley Forge
PF –
Ted Bordelon & Jonathan LaPlante, Holy Ghost Prep
Kevin Collins & Rory Gledhill, Holy Ghost Prep
LD –
Sean R. Janda, La Salle College
Matthew Angioillo, St. Joseph’s Prep

Virginia
PF –
Edmund Brown & Gabriel Manio, West Springfield
Jordan Long & Genevieve Anderson, Cave Spring
Julia Fiorio & Kelly Flanigan, Edison
LD –
Adam Gerchick, Potomac
Yar Batmangelidg, Potomac
Alison Bailey, Fort Defiance

West Iowa
PF –
Katelyn Warburton & Wesley Baish, Okoboji
Molly Fallon & Gracie Brandsgard, West Des Moines Valley
Natalie Radia & Reid Brown, West Des Moines Valley
LD –
Matt Kawahara, West Des Moines Valley
Lauren Burdt, Ankeny
Olivia Skogerboe, Spirit Lake

West Kansas
PF –
Mackenzie Bohren & Ben Honeycutt, Buhler
Jessica Miller & Collen Steffen, Buhler
LD –
Alonzo Pena, Garden City
Adam Teel, Buhler

West Los Angeles
PF –
Ashley Keezer & Jillian Trock,an, Atascadero
Corinne Sara Rockoff & Robert Malka, El Camino
Real
LD –
Jonathan Haderlein, North Hollywood
Michael Harris, North Hollywood

West Texas
PF –
Mark Gonzalez & Victor Reyes, Cathedral
Paola Hernandez & Robert Palacios, El Paso Coronado
LD –
David Delgado, Cathedral
Anais Carmona, Americas

Western Ohio
PF –
Brian Leopold & Joe Wills, Gahanna Lincoln
Alex Gross & Sam Gross, Sylvania Northview
LD –
Ankit Prasad, Sylvania Southview
Julia Hu, Sylvania Southview

Western Oklahoma
PF –
Tiemo Landes & Evan Askey, Norman
Jan Schlupp & Andres Kenney, Norman
LD –
Julie Halterman, Norman
Yijun Wu, Edmond North
Penny Snyder, Edmond North

Western Washington
PF –
Cameron Seib & Vamsi Chunduru, Capital
Austin Vaarvik & Vladimir Chlouba, Gig Harbor
LD –
Katie Bergus, Gig Harbor
Katie Jung, Gig Harbor

Wind River
PF –
Brandon Kapelow & Sandor Langer, Jackson Hole
Mitchell H. Thornton & Robert H. Peck, Riverton
LD –
Chris Andrews, Green River
Lisa Ann Schiermeister, Powell

The full list of entries provided by the National Forensic League for policy debate and the Individual Events, listed by districts, is available here.
Alaska
POLICY –
Paul Gabrys & Meg Mielke, Chugiak
DUO –
Jacob Gershel & Karlyn Matson, Chugiak
OO –
Alini Jashiki, Skagway
USX –
Griffen Imig, Dimond
IX –
Shelby Surdyk, Skagway
DI –
Hannah Hostetler, Haines

Arizona
POLICY –
Peter Mardian & Christos Makridis, Brophy Prep
Max Maerowitz & Michael Maerowitz, Brophy Prep
Michael Kurtenbach & Cody VanDewerker, Desert Vista
DUO –
Hannah Jiam & Paige Sager, Desert Vista
Cody Hunt & Keenan J. Eikenberry, Dobson
Holly Nordquist & Michael Mazzella, Desert Vista
OO –
Priyanka Atreya, Desert Vista
Ashley Kessler, Dobson
Lauren Miller, Desert Vista
USX –
Rebecca Kim, Desert Vista
Konstantine Vrazhilov, Brophy Prep
Anna Gunderson, Desert Vista
IX —
Kevin Coltin, Brophy College Prep
Michael Watson, Desert Vista
Amalia Skilton, Tempe Prep
DI –
Kathryn Cotten, Desert Vista
Jenny Gladstone, Desert Vista
RJ Silva, Brophy College Prep
HI –
Arthur A. Jay Gonzalaz, Dobson
Joshua Aiken, Hamilton
Alexander Porter, Tempe Prep

Big Valley
DUO –
Jillian Ramos & Brandon Sookhoo, James Enochs
Irving Cerda & John Gonzalez, James Enochs
USX –
Trevor Deane, Lodi
Colten Carey, Lodi
IX —
Laurel Rosenberger, Beyer
Ronak Patel, Lincoln
DI –
Britney Million, James Enochs
Elijah McKinnon, James Enochs
HI –
Todd Rau, James Enochs
Kristina Hansen, Bear Creek

California Coast
POLICY –
Erik Johnson & Vijay Sridharan, Bellarmine
Sejal Parekh & Chander Ramesh, Saint Francis
Jim Li & Justin Kahn, Gunn
DUO –
Ronak Shah & Zade Shakir, Leland
Srishti Prabha & Oomung Varma, Leland
Mohit Kochar & Grace Ng, Leland
OO –
Ryan Kuo, Leland
Sagar Vijay, Bellarmine
Kyle Vandenbarg, Bellarmine
USX –
Evan Larson, Bellarmine
Taman Narayan, Leland
Remi Sun, Bellarmine
IX —
Jacob Baker, Bellarmine
Alireza Hazrati, Bellarmine
Will Rafey, Bellarmine
DI –
Danny Gould, Bellarmine
Huilim Jeong, Leland
Yasmin Hadian, Leland
HI –
Ryan Vasquez, Bellarmine
Evan Bartz, Bellarmine
Madeleine Heil, Presentation

Capitol Valley
POLICY –
Nick Matthews & Kelsey Long, C. K. McClatchy
Cristobal Mancillas & John (Jack) Gugino, C. K. McClatchy
DUO –
Tyler Weston & Evan Taylor, El Dorado
OO –
Alexa Crawford, Granite Bay
USX –
Akhilesh Srinivas, Pathipati, Mira Loma
Ashwin Subramanian, Granite Bay
IX —
Pradhan Bhat, Granite Bay
Vrinda Agarwal, Mira Loma
DI –
Safeena Mecklai, Mira Loma
HI –
Kedar Kulkarni, Mira Loma

Carolina West
DUO –
Hoke Pittman & Michael Griggs, Myers Park
Ashley N. Carswell & Paul Fischer, Robert L.Patton
OO –
Casey Fidler, North Mecklenburg
Carson McKee, Myers Park
USX –
Elena Botella, Myers Park
Jesse Kessel, ASheville
IX —
Megan Race, North Mecklenburg
Elizabeth Merritt, Myers Park
DI –
Hazel Koch, Myers Park
Jorge L. Ziranda, Chase
HI –
Izzy Francke, Myers Park
Lauren Phelps, Myers Park

Carver Truman
POLICY –
Matt Garrity & Bo Mahr, Neosho
Allie Cagle & Ahsley Jemes, Neosho
DUO –
Kristin Racicot & Bridgette Renfro, Monett
Natalie Ward & David Lunsford, Cassville
Rolando Rodriguez & Desirae Fowler, Monett
OO –
William Townsend, Monett
David Sigars, Neosho
Andrew Frost, Joplin
USX –
Steward Pence, Joplin
Blake James, Webb City
Jordan Preston, Joplin
IX —
Kirk Gandy, Monett
Alexsandra McMahan, Neosho
DI –
Annie Dyche, Reeds Spring
Phylicia Freytag, McDonald County
MEgan Aleshire, Monett
HI –
Justin Bowman, Neosho
Ben Shuman, Cassville
Kacy Barta, Monett

Central Minnesota
POLICY –
Laura Johnson & Steven Quam, St. Paul Central
Mari Vangen-Adams & Jane Olmstead Rumsey, South HS-Minneapolis
Danny Bernick & Robert Cibrowski, Henry Sibley
DUO –
Airik Ohman & Brooke Nelson, Roseville Area
Peter Ingles & Karina Devine, Eastview
Britt Logan & Evan Covert, Roseville Area
OO –
John Hofmeister, Apple Valley
Szuyin Leow, Apple Valley
Tatiana Burton, Apple Valley
USX –
Vincent Cheng, Eastview
Patrick E. Moran, Eastview
Joshua N. Noah, Eastview
IX —
Barbara Marchevsky, Eastview
Hannah Nemer, Henry Sibley
Cory Haala, Simley
DI –
Taylor Misiak, Eastview
Kailey Field, Eastview
Rachel Evans, Roseville
HI –
Lindsey White, Eastview
Grigorily I. Berman, Eastview
Aeysha Kinnunen, Roseville Area

Central Texas
POLICY –
Kelly Cunningham & Chris Solis, Winston Churchill
Avram Munoz & Mario Villaplana, Winston Churchill
DUO –
Sarah Lavere & Andrew Wofford, Winston Churchill
Kelsey Godfrey & Nicolas Thorpe, Claudia Taylor
Johnson
OO –
Briana Collins, Winston Churchill
Amanda Bianchiok, Winston Churchill
USX –
Claire Daviss, Winston Churchill
Erica Dietzel, Taft
Nathan Dehaan, Ronald Reagan
IX —
Sanjana Satyan Dubey, Ronald Reagan
Alina Dunbar, Sandra Day O’Conor
DI –
Wilson Bondesen, Winston Churchill
Andrew Philip Asper, Ronald Reagan
HI –
John Reyna, Sandra Day O’Connor
Conor Dean, Sandra Day O’Connor

Chesapeake
POLICY –
Thomas Pacheco & Patrick McCleary, Loyola Blakefield
Kaine Cherry & Nicholas Vail, Baltimore City College
DUO –
Jessica Sheehan & Carolina Millan, Walt Whitman
OO –
Arushi Bhalla, Walt Whitman
Connor Manning, Loyola Blakefield
USX –
Jacob Levitt, Walt Whitman
Mike Neubauer, Walt Whitman
IX —
Jane Kessner, Walt Whitman
Ross Slaughter, Walt Whitman
DI –
Adam Conner, Loyola Blakefield
Joanna Miller, Walter Johnson
HI –
Nikhil Gupta, Walt Whitman
Alexander Burnett, Walt Whitman

Colorado
POLICY –
Tyler Louis Rackley & Andrew Hilger, Cherry
Creek
Patrick O’Brien & Andy Greos, Cherry Creek
DUO –
Kyle Matusoff & Alexis Scobie, Kent Denver
Ethan Torpy & Sarah Heyse, Cherry Creek
OO –
Albert Chang, Cherry Creek
Mark Louis Higgins, Ponderosa
USX –
Ari Bloom, Cherry Creek
Karie Schultz, Highlands Ranch
IX —
Parth Kaul, Cherry Creek
Brian King, Cherry Creek
DI –
Joe Dinnen, Kent Denver
Vanessa Marie Emerson, Aurora Central
HI –
Becca Musyl, Kent Denver
John Lapin, Kent Denver

Colorado Grande
POLICY –
Lauren Heery & Daniel Belton, St. Mary’s
Ryan Dewey & Ray Grossman, Palmer
DUO –
Jillian Wagner & Lauren Cross, The Classical Academy
Mariam Diawora & Jeddidiah Duarte, Pueblo East
OO –
Joseph Zhang, Pine Creek
Naureen Singh, Rampart
USX –
Danielle S. Camous, St. Mary’s
Sunil Damie, Air Academy
IX —
Thomas Grounds, Woodland Park
Lindsey Pruett, Canon City
DI –
Jacob Abell, Ouray
Stormy L. Pyeatte, Ouray
Shelby C. Sayer, Montrose
HI –
Jared Norman, Fruita Monument
James Miller, Woodland Park

Deep South
POLICY –
Jonathan Ma & Madalyn Vaughn, Vestavia Hills
Lucy Xie & Austin Locke, Vestavia Hills
DUO –
Jack Williamson & Sarah Price, The Altamont School
Taylor McDonald & Micah Rector, Prattville
OO –
Drayton Thomas, The Altamont School
Sophia Jones, The Montgomery Academy
USX –
Paul Allen, The Montgomery Academy
Rose Wang, Lamp
IX —
Thor Christianson, The Altamont School
Charles Cardinal, The Montgomery Academy
DI –
Layne M. Williams, The Montgomery Academy
Mia Tankersley, The Altamont School
HI –
Sam Collie, Prattville
Julia Olieynk, Prattville

East Iowa
POLICY –
David Petersen & Sharon Kann, Cedar Rapids Washington
Michael Bloom & Luke Allen, Iowa City West
DUO –
Zachary Wahls & Paul McKinley, Iowa City West
Harrison Postler & Ryan Brennan, Iowa City West
OO –
Ola Abiose, Iowa City West
Eleanor Marshall, Iowa City West
USX –
Janelle J. Blanco, Burlington Community
Ryan Freund, Bettendorf
IX —
Katie Monson, Iowa City West
Kaybee Abiose, Iowa City West
DI –
Kirsten Schneider, Muscatine
Zachary R. Smith, Burlington Community
HI –
Ryan Courtney, Iowa City West
Davis Schrock, Muscatine

East Kansas
DUO –
Thomas Gray & Kelly Sabates, Shawnee Mission East
Olivia Cruz & Devin Burns, Olathe South
OO –
Alyson Germinder, Bishop Miege
Andrew Birkinsha, Shawnee Mission West
USX –
Leigha Empson, Shawnee Mission West
Colton Tatham, Olathe South
IX —
Nick Rundle, Bishop Miege
Danny Hague, Bishop Miege
DI –
Ameila C. Weil, Lawrence
Alexandra Larkins, Shawnee Mission South
HI –
Carina Fowler, Lawrence
Ian Johnson, Bishop Miege

East Los Angeles
POLICY –
Sean Hernandez & Reid Ehrlich-Quinn, Damien
Steven Sander & Bowen Zhang, Polytechnic
Eric Berggren & Pablo Gannon, Damien
DUO –
Daniel Weingarten & James Shechet, San Marino
Bryan Chau & Jonathan Colcol, Gabrielino
Raymond Truong & STeven Truong, San Marino
OO –
Vivian Lam, Gabrielino
Tina Nguyen, Gabrielino
Sofie Garden, Gabrielino
USX –
Oscar Wang, San Marino
Kevin Ye, Gabrielino
David Lam, San Gabriel
IX —
Nabeel Zewail, San marino
Walter Nguyen, Gabrielino
Oliver Sitt, Gabrielino
DI –
Samira Husein, Gabrielino
Jordan Phillips, Ribet Academy College Prep
Sam Sulam, Ribet Academy College Prep
HI –
Jacob Medina, Schurr
Amber Phung, Gabrielino
Leo Wong, Gabrielino

East Missouri
POLICY –
Jason Bell & Jack Chen, Ladue Horton Watkins
Sophia Sanchez & Marc Prablek, Ladue Horton Watkins
Zack Maier & Luke Schiel, Parkway Central
DUO –
Dylan Cockson & Jessica Shen, Clayton
Chris Rosado & Amanda Sasek, Moberly
OO –
Kyle LaVelle, Ritenour
Gigi Stroncek, Parkway West
USX –
Casey Minnes, Marquette
Kathleen Naccarato, Clayton
Eliana Parnas, Ladue Horton Watkins
IX —
Zach Bell, Ladue Horton Watkins
Michael Webster-Clark, Ladue Horton Watkins
Ikshu Neithalathi, Clayton
DI –
Keegan Huckfeldt, Jefferson City
Ian Miller, Clayton
HI –
King Russell, Pattonville
Samantha N. Ravens, Oakville

East Texas
POLICY –
Matthew Malek & Meagan Sanchez, Crosby
Omar Ali & Aditya Shetkar, James E. Taylor
DUO –
Andrew J. Knight & Megan Turnbull, Spring
Madison Roberts & Tommy Waas, Klein
OO –
Tramanh N. Hoang, J. Frank Dobie
Megan N. Fountain, Montgomery
USX –
Katie James, Northland Christian School
Emma Wilhelm, Northland Christian School
Vikas Gupta, Dulles
IX —
Gabriela Barahona, Spring
Thomas Vien, William P. Clements
Hamsika Chandrasekar, William P. Clements
DI –
Teresa Zimmerman, Klein
Kaitlin Burke, Spring
HI –
Cameron S. Collier, Spring
Heather Garsen, Klein

Eastern Ohio
POLICY –
Matthew Cebul & Delaney Gatz, Wooster
Mara Weber & Maggie Eby, Wooster
DUO –
Abby Jones & Allie Kirk, Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy
Elizabeth E. Engle & Shane Hurst, Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy
Kaylan T. Lemon & Jessica L. Morgan, Perry
OO –
Grace Rjoek, Hoover
Nicholas Meeks, Perry
USX –
Taylor Thompson, Carrollton
Lauren A. Bondarenko, GlenOak
IX —
Rohan Bhargava, Jackson
Aaron Strickland, Jackson
DI –
Morgan B. Logan, Perry
Sarah Brazier, Wadsworth City School
Sydney Maltese, Central Catholic
HI –
Joe Brenckle, Louisville
Caleb A. H. Snyder, Perry
Vincent Cusma, Canton McKinley

Eastern Oklahoma
POLICY –
Isaac Eicher & Shane Benjamin, Charles Page
Hanna Roberts & Jeremiah Worrell, Owasso
DUO –
Jamie Lee Fife & Kiersey King, Grove
Gus Luc & Jillian Land, Tulsa-Washington
Alex Grawford & Kara Erwin, Jenks
OO –
Jennie Wachowski, Tulsa-Washington
Isaiah Feken, Bixby
Alley Agee, Fort Gibson
USX –
Rachel Hill, Muldrow
Sarah Ann Swygard, American Christian
Dalton Lee Smith, Shawnee
IX —
Kaylee Jones, American Christian
Heather Ann Swadley, Shawnee
Finn Terdal, Jenks
DI –
Scott Knowlton, Owasso
Keith Daniels, Tulsa-Washington
Olivia Shadid, Cascia Hall
HI –
Lyndsay Tabor, Muldrow
Reese Mishler, Owasso
Hannah Royce, Wilburton

Florida Manitee
POLICY –
Vaonva Robles Navas & Melvin Washington, Fort Lauderdale
Christopher Mair & Tyler Boykin, Fort Lauderdale
DUO –
Matt Seely & Zach Snow, University
Nicholas Gilyard & Gabriella Devia-Allen, Nova
OO –
Caitlin McCluskey, University
Brooke Weisman, University
USX –
Ryan Pereira, Nova
John Mern, Taravella
IX —
Max Soloman, University
Jason Bernstein, Nova
DI –
Samantha Levy, Nova
Gabriel Albaladejo, Everglades
HI –
Rachel Brooks, University
Austin Sprague, West Broward

Florida Panther
DUO –
Chris Snyder & Nick Johnson, Trinity Prep
Chantal Cowie & Sarah Wilson, Trinity Prep
OO –
Malik Priest, Winter Springs
Alexa Lytle, Lake Highland
USX –
Brian Flaxman, Suncoast
Bo Lint, Suncoast
IX —
Rustin Finkler, Trinity Prep
Rishi Bajaj, Trinity Prep
DI –
Stephanie Barron, Trinity Prep
Diego Canizares, Lake Highland Preparatory
HI –
Joseph R. hernandez, Jupiter
Rachel Baker, Lake Highland Preparatory

Florida Sunshine
DUO –
Will Newton & Devis Ross, Pine View
Jimmy Sweeney & Al French, Pine View
OO –
Kevin Pabst, Niceville
Jackie Allegra, Pine View
USX –
Jessica Weaver, Pine View
Janaye McGrew, Newsome
IX —
Nichant Srvastana, Pine View
Morgan Bell, Sarasota
DI –
Kaitlyn Terpesta, Pine View
Abby Highland, Pine View
HI –
Connor Settlemire, Niceville
Kirk Cherney, Riverview

Georgia Northern Mountain
POLICY –
John Holland & Minh Lam, Henry W. Grady
Michael Barlow & Holden Choi, Henry W. Grady
DUO –
Parker Rehklau & Luke Tieslad, Alpharetta
Hannah Mitchell & Wesley Powell, Henry W. Grady
OO –
Demarius Jaron Walker, Henry W. Grady
Scott Bremer, Henry W. Grady
USX –
Chris Wang, Alpharetta
Leith Meador, Henry W. Grady
IX —
Damon F. Melton, Henry W. Grady
Nupur Gupta, Alpharetta
DI –
Erin Borain, Alpharetta
Taylor Walker, Henry W. Grady
HI –
Adam DeBruler, Alpharetta
Matthew Ward, Henry W. Grady

Georgia Southern Peach
POLICY –
Krtis Anderson & Robert Walker, Warner Robins
Shannon Mills & Jonathan Edwards, Carrollton
DUO –
Thomas Olesto & Dillon Rosben, Starr’s Mill
Taylor Doane & Segi Amosu, Starr’s Mill
OO –
Kyle Constable, Lee City
Kristin Hanlin, Warner Robins
USX –
Thomas Carani, Lincoln County
Lauren Mattia, Starr’s Mill
IX —
Molly Munson, Starr’s Mill
Trusha Daya, Fayette County
DI –
Nicole Musgrove, Lee County
Tian Corington, Southwest DeKalb
HI –
Caleb Huett, Carrolton
Antonio Mantica, Lee County

Golden Desert
POLICY –
Alexis Neel & Jadon Montero, Green Valley
Kyle Eriksen & Alex Kosmach, Green Valley
DUO –
Sam Cruz & Ashley Roberts, Green Valley
Kimberly Austin & Alex Williams, Palo Verde
Carely Sullins-Herman & TJ Thomas, Palo Verde
OO –
Jean Paul Santos, Virgin Valley
Katlin Schmidt, Foothill
Henry Castillo, Advanced Technology
USX –
Kyle Denison, Palo Verde
Jason Singh, Green Valley
IX —
Michael Phelan, Green Valley
Trevor Griffin, Virgin Valley
DI –
Danielle Tinio, Bishop Gorman
Jasmine Ghuman, The Meadows School
HI –
Paul Neal, Valley
Casey Rosenberg, Green Valley

Great Salt Lake
POLICY –
Melissa Leeworthy & Annie White, Rowland Hall-St. Mark’s
Mario Feola & Andrew Arsht, Rowland Hall-St. Mark’s
DUO –
Zoe Rhyne & Collin Griffith, East
Amalea Giannopolis & Dionna Giannopolis, Cottonwood
OO –
Saria Dy, East
Kelsey Jenkins, Kearns
USX –
Dixon Li, Skyline
Sean L. Smith, Skyline
IX —
Adam Ingram, Intermountain Christian School
Breegan O’Connor, Intermountain Christian
School
DI –
Sequoia Thomas, Salt Lake City West
Mallory Mower, Salt lake City West
HI –
Georgia Knell, Cottonwood
Taraneh Desmat, Cottonwood

Greater Illinois
DUO –
Emma Magner & CHris Simmons, Belleville West
Cody Follis & Kaylyn Engelhardt, Lincoln Community
OO –
Adam Meirink, Belleville West
Reiana Mahan, Harrisburg
USX –
Jessica Petrie, Belleville West
Paige Prehoda, Heyworth
IX —
Carolee DeArmon, Harrisburg
Matt Dobill, Normal Community West
DI –
Taylor Adams, Charleston
Emily Woods, Belleville West
HI –
Caleb Dehner, Benton Cons
Matt Ingram, Belleville West

Gulf Coast
POLICY –
James Chang & Zachary Case Herrera, Calhoun
Sean Ross Bram & Ali Raza, El Campo
DUO –
Luke Fernandez & John Reynolds, Harlingen South
Gilbert Alaniz & Hillary Cortez, Harlingen South
OO –
Regina Flanigan, Gregory-Portland
Kara Tapangan, Harlingen South
USX –
John Ford, Galbeston-Ball
Cody Sporer, Harlingen South
IX —
Marcus Perez, Bishop
Brittnay Bradshaw, Memorial HS-Victoria
DI –
Elias Abdalla, Gregory-Portland
Kyle Moore, Gregory-Portland
HI –
Michael Dayne Lathrop, Corpus Christi Carroll
Jason Mott, Gregory-Portland

Hawaii
POLICY –
Alexa Hettwer & Julia Zhang, Iolani School
Carrie Tribble & Elise Timtim, Punahou School
DUO –
Kaipo Leopoldino & Lindsey Ke’ala Ostrowski, Kamehameha Schools
Jason Hwang & Kaipoleimanu Apo, President William McKinley
OO –
Shawn Bode, Kamehameha Schools
Sierra Fox, Kamehameha Schools
USX –
Matthew Yasouka, Kamehameha Schools
IX —
Katarina Hughes, Iolani School
DI –
Zachary Sainz, Kamehameha Schools
Niutao Seau Jr., Kamehameha Schools
HI –
Tamatea Graham, Kamehameha Schools
Braden Clark, Kamehameha Schools

Heart of America
POLICY –
Nathan Werner & Zach Schmitz, Park Hill South
Daniel Plott & Matthew Greeberg, Independence Truman
Brandi Berndt & Jasmine Heitz, Independence Truman
DUO –
Eric Staves & Alexis Morris, Liberty Sr.
Kati Littleton & Taylor Yazel, Chrisman
Elizabeth Stander & Emma Cadd, Liberty
OO –
Zach Beattie, Savannah Rd
Kiefer Sticken, Savvan Rd
Kim Petroll, Liberty
USX –
Alexis Elliott, Liberty
Forrest Richardson, Savannah
Susan Taylor, Liberty
IX —
John M. Mikitish, Liberty
Joshua Miller, Fort Osage
Ethan Poe, Liberty
DI –
Vincent Palito, Park Hill
Tyler Hammond, Liberty
Miranda Baker, Fort Osage
HI –
Dillon Amaya, Independence Truman
Dana Masters, Independence Truman
Andy Kozminski, Savannah

Heart of Texas
POLICY –
Andrea Cohen & Carl Fitz, A & M Consolidated
David Mullins & John Baker, Westlake
DUO –
Matthew Stallato & Ian Lindsay, Westlake
Sarah Kolb & Zoe Tyson, L. C. Anderson
OO –
Morgan Booksh, McNeil
Kelcey Bacon, Harker Heights
USX –
Patrick Germain, L. C. Anderson
Shaan Heng-Devan, L. C. Anderson
IX —
Haydn Forrest, L. C. Anderson
Henry Finch, San Marcos
DI –
Ruben Bermea, Harker Heights
Anna Bennett, Westlake
HI –
Brooke Novy, L. C. Anderson
Alex Maranto, Stony Point

Hole in the Wall
POLICY –
Jared Fanning & Benjamin Berry, Cheyenne East
Jon Swartz & Peter Bergene, Cheyenne East
DUO –
Nick Roussel & Tyler Webber, Scottsbluff
Joe Kozal & Rachel Harvey, Scottsbluff
Janae Wiggins & Joshua Clark, Gothenburg
OO –
Lauren Falzone, Cheyenne East
Sandra Shedd, Scottsbluff
Cody Sanford, Cheyenne East
USX –
Kaiser Mock, Campbell County
Adam Deidel, North Platte
IX —
Kamil Ammari, Campbell County
Cassie Slaght, North Platte
DI –
Lara Grace Ay’on Joseph, Lead-Deadwood
School District
Hayley Brown, North Platte
Thomas Powers, Cheyenne East
HI –
Zac Franzen, Gothenburg
Skye Weaver, New Castle
Huan He, North Platte

Hoosier Crossroads
POLICY –
KeeJoh O’Hearon & Virginia Mills, Kokomo
DUO –
Katy Myers & Adam Young, Warren Central
Taylor Ford & Alex Raby, North Central
OO –
Adria Steuer, Warren Central
Cameray Boyden, Decatur Central
USX –
Millie Cripe, North Central
Andrew Reagan, North Central
IX —
Clint Grable, Camel
Aditya Krishnan, Brebeuf Jesuit Prep
DI –
Spencer Tew, North Central
Malia Manor, Evansville
HI –
Tyler Cox, Jasper
Emily Coughlin, Hamilton Southeastern

Hoosier Heartland
POLICY –
Zoe Masters & Karen Shen, West Lafayette
Pedro Jofre-Lora & Alex Hollenbeck, West Lafayette
DUO –
Lincoln Claus & Kourtney Cooper, Fishers
Charli Renckly & Ellen Hoppe, Fishers
Corey McConville & Audra Casterline, Fishers
OO –
Andrew Neylon, Fishers
Stephen Shapiro, Southport
USX –
Scott Borer, Lawrence Central
Chad Barker, McCutcheon
IX —
Jason Kegerreis, Southport
Lauren Cole, Fishers
DI –
Sheenae Davis, Ben Davis
Bethany L. Hancock, Connersville
Kayli Russell, Signature
HI –
Darius Harris, Ben Davis
Kit Rivers, Reitz
Danny Schenbre, Reitz

Illini
POLICY –
Misael Gonzalez & Kevin Hirn, Whitney Young
Magnet
Sari Hernandez & Andrew Jones, Whitney Young
Magnet
Emily Carroll & Laura River, Homewood-
Flossmoor
DUO –
Joshua Durham & Cassandra Snyder, Downers
Grove South
Evan Karl & Mike Tristano, Downers Grove North
Andrew T. Swanson & Alyssa B. Leys, Downers
Grove South
OO –
Chelsey Rice-Davis, Downers Grove South
Jordon Frank, Downers Grove North
Mitchell Christopher, Downers Grove South
USX –
Adam Kase, Downers Grove South
Vinay Nayak, Hinsdale Central
Eve Z. LeBaron, Downers Grove South
IX —
Edward Roberge, Downers Grove South
Nandini L. Ramakrishnan, Hinsdale Central
Milap Mehta, Downers Grove South
DI –
Tierra Novy, Wheaton North
Jennifer L. McCarthy, Downers Grove South
Sinnard Scott, Thornwood
HI –
Tehseen Mody, Downers Grove South
Darius Leaks, Thornwood
Johari Mackery, Thornwood

Inland
POLICY –
Laurel Fish & Joe LeDue, Saint George’s School
Ellie Stagaman & Galen Wright, Saint George’s
School
DUO –
Rachel Raeon & Rebecca Tutcher, Lake City
Tyler Powers & Jackson Eubanks, Lake City
OO –
Melanie M. Weigand, Gonzaga Prep
Erin Ormsby, University
USX –
Julianna Stratton, Lake City
Mychaela D. Coyne, Gonzaga Prep
IX —
Adam Bernbaum, Central Valley
Roy Taylor, Gonzaga Prep
DI –
Devin Walker, Lake City
Justin Peterson, Lake City
HI –
Ross Miewald, Lake City
Nick Kulsti, Lake City

Iroquois
DUO –
Nicholas Spencer & Jesse R. Olsen, Towanda
Area
Mackenzie Watkins & Zachary Ferrulli, Towanda
Area
OO –
Sarah Y. Polinski, Sayre Area
Brenden T. R. Gregory, Walton Central
USX –
Jacob Manchester, Towanda Area
Alaina Drayton, Franklin Central School
IX —
Adam Brigham, Wyalusing
DI –
Nick Morley, Woodstock Union
Shane Dunau, Hancock Central
HI –
Douglas W. Hickey, Sayre Area
Sarah B. Flenders, Sayre Area

Kansas Flint Hills
POLICY –
Jacob Thomas Overbey & Andrew Douglas Ginn, Shawnee Heights
Matthew Ryan Bevens & Anna L. Hamilton, Topeka
Jeanette M. Shultz & Ben Goossen, Washburn
Rural
OO –
Jestina M. Matulka, Silver Lake
Jerod J. Barker, Silver Lake
USX –
Colin Rosenow, Manhattan
Audrey Ballard, Manhattan
IX —
Luke R. Brinker, Topeka
Linda Pei, Manhattan
DI –
Thomas P. Browne III, Topeka
Jessica Barranco, Seaman
HI –
Dylan L. VanSickle, Topeka
Natasha Pickett, Washburn Rural

Kentucky
POLICY –
Brian Bickers & Ben Hackett, Beechwood
DUO –
Malcolm D. Bailey & William L. Grey, Rowan
County Senior
Kyle Snapp & Candace Mullins, Danville
OO –
Will Blackford, Calloway County
Emma Wilczynski, Boone County
USX –
Aaron Williams, Harrison County
Sirena Wurth, Graves County
IX —
Emily K. Martin, Boone County
Lillian Rogers, Henry Clay
DI –
Molly Shoulta, Kentucky Country Day School
Karson Crass, Calloway County
HI –
Parker Collins, East Jessamine
Emily Kemp, Boone County

Korea
DUO –
Hannah Kim & Kristen Chung, Korea International School
OO –
Sejin Park, Korea International School
IX —
Keunho Choi, Hanyoung Foreign Language High School
DI –
Haeun Park, Youngsan international School of Seoul

LBJ
POLICY –
Roza Essaw & Eristeo Perez, Wylie
Aaron Renaud & Matt Amos, Decatur
Aubrie Tuckness & Kody Morgan, Whitesboro
DUO –
Travis George & Mike Lawton, Aubrey
Ashley Rush & Alexandrea Denny, Princeton
OO –
Garrett McCullough, Aubrey
Kendra Loftice, Princeton
USX –
Sydnee Erickson, Ferris
Rahfin Faruk, Richardson
Courtney Parker, Aubrey
Megan Diaz, Aubrey
IX —
Crystal Allison, Aubrey
Lesli Garrett, Canton
Andrew Torres, Ferris
DI –
Leah Stark, Princeton
Isaac Neal, Princeton
HI –
Schelbi Cantu, Princeton
Bailie Avrit, Community

Lone Star
POLICY –
Anna Litman & Noopur Bhushan, Greenhill
David Jagneaux & Eric Wey, Grapevine
DUO –
Patrick McDonald & Kate Daugherty, Mansfield
Kaitlin Hoag & Stone Meyer, Grapevine
OO –
Alexandra Elam, Plano Senior
Brittany Gossett, Mansfield
USX –
Sabina Sobhani, Plano West
Sachin Shah, Plano Senior
IX —
Charles Rutter, Plano Senior
Shahid Ahmed, Plano Senior
DI –
Chester Rushing, Northwest
Skyller Armenta, Mansfield
HI –
Gena Charette, Grapevine
Landry Ayres, Grapevine

Louisiana
POLICY –
Dylan Davis & Martha C. Booth, Parkway
Nicholas T. Roszczynialski & Ian Sorenson, Lafayette
DUO –
Jacob Broussard & Allyson Abadie, Teurlings
Catholic
Jessica Campbell & Aaron Martin, Comeaux
OO –
Carley Furlan, Fontainbleau
Marie T. Yokum, Comeaux
USX –
Andrea E. Gallo, Lafayette
Jordan Attales, Teurlings Catholic
IX —
Kasie Dugas, Teurlings Catholic
Hunter Christopher, Fontainbleau
DI –
Andy LaRocca, Riverdale
Andrew Picard, Comeaux
HI –
Parker Guidry, St. Thomas More
Austin A. Broussard, Comeaux

Maine
DUO –
Ryan Dubois & David Carvalho, Lewiston
OO –
Neil Pomerleau, Edward Little
USX –
Noah Finberg, Deering
IX —
Noah Major, Deering
DI –
Chelsea Bernard, Dirigo
HI –
Greta Landis, Orono

Michigan
DUO –
Evan Adams & Nicholas Mueller, Portage Northern
OO –
Charlotte Landes, Holland
USX –
Nathan Slauer, Grand Rapids Christian
IX —
Philip Mulder, Portage Northern
DI –
Isaac Reimer, Holland
HI –
Ryan Phillips, Holland

Mississippi
POLICY –
Lee Sargent & Purav Brahmbhatt, St. Andrew’s Episcopal School
DUO –
Emily Bustin & Blakely Owens, Oak Grove
Christian Green & Kelly Barker, Oak Grove
OO –
Lauren Leist, Laurel Christian School
Maggie Cupit, Brookhaven
USX –
Maria Vasser, Ridgeland
Logan DeLaBarre-Hays, St. Joseph Catholic School
Corbin McDavitt, Laurel Christian School
IX —
William Wild, Oak Grove
Joey Mena, Ridgeland
DI –
Cory Williams, Hattiesburg
Eyeshia McSwain, Hattiesburg
HI –
Hunter Chancellor, Laurel Christian School
Paromita Mitra, Oak Grove

Montana
POLICY –
Devon Lach & Brianna Beswick, Bozeman
Morgan Coffin & Eric Justin, Bozeman
DUO –
Whitney Mitchell & Kori DePauw, Corvallis
Matthew Scwager & Cory Markellis, Glacier
OO –
Emily Schrock, Skyview
Cassie King, Billings West
USX –
Katie Hoag, Flathead
Timmothy Seery, Great Falls Russell
IX —
Maxine Sugarman, Flathead
Callie Moothart, Sentinel
DI –
Kari Nielsen, Bozeman
Kelly Pierre, Bozeman
Tori Gaines, Butte
HI –
Casey Brown, Flathead
Joseph Baken, Billings Sr.
Hannah Brown, Skyview

Nebraska
POLICY –
Michael Garder & Ryan Kyriss, Norfolk
Shane Adams & Ryan Markus, Millard West
DUO –
Anna Gronewold & Queentara Pimentel, Millard North
Jessa Lyn Newby & Christopher Lee Lyons, Kearney Sr.
OO –
Priya Srivats, Millard North
Michaela Hruska, David City
USX –
Christina Mayer, Lincoln Southwest
Brandon Kowalski, Norfolk
IX —
Anna Meier, Millard West
Lydia Selzle, Millard North
DI –
Mary Metz, Lincoln Southwest
Alexis Wong, Millard North
HI –
Eddie Hanlon, Millard North
Lauren Schaal, Millard North

Nebraska South
POLICY –
Ian Lee & David Robinson, Millard South
Connor Hagerty & Briana Hargan, Millard South
DUO –
Jay DuPont & Jack Christie, Lincoln East
Madeline Shomos & Dominic Ryan, Lincoln East
OO –
Brittany Freeman, Lincoln East
Kiersten Haugen, Lincoln East
USX –
William Drevo, Crete
Samantha Karas, Lincoln East
IX —
Maesen Churchill, Lincoln East
Eric Mattson, Lincoln East
DI –
Christian Fleming, Papillion-LaVista
Cole A. EVans, Bellevue East
HI –
Nate Rocke, Lincoln East
Lindsey Oelling, Norris Public Schools

New England
POLICY –
Katryna Cadle & Christopher Power, Bishop Guertin
DUO –
Isabelle C. Lelogeais & Amelia M. Whalen, Milton
Academy
Evan Grande & Carl Olson, Sacred Heart
OO –
Helen Dick, Sacred Heart
David A. Schlenker, Newton South
USX –
Luckmini Liyanage, Newton South
Nathan Yeo, Newton South
IX —
Alex E. Tolkin, Newton South
Justin T. Kieran, Newton South
DI –
Zach Einstein, Sacred Heart
Danielle Ohrenberger, Sacred Heart
HI –
Solon Kelleher, Bancroft
Dylan R. Williams, Milton Academy

New Jersey
POLICY –
Youssouf Camara & Jamiluddin Ahmed, University
Devane Murphy & Jean Camacho, Newark Science
DUO –
Brinden Elton & Julian Gordon, Summit
Stephen Badras & Sean Lindert, Montville
OO –
Melissa Dunn, Randolph
Daniel Knapp, Morristown
USX –
Jay Patel, Ridge
Jaina Shah, Ridge
IX —
Rohun Pai, Ridge
Gautham Varadarajan, Ridge
DI –
Harrison Haney, Arthur L. Johnson
Stephen Bennett, Ridge
Samantha Turret, Randolph
HI –
Tim Lynch, Summit
Christopher Harris, Matawan Regional
Martha O’Donovan, Bridgewater-Raritan Regional

New Mexico
POLICY –
Arik Burakovsky & Gannon Nelson, Los Almos
Ryan Marcus & Ben Batha, Los Alamos
DUO –
Ashlynn Daughton & Jake Mayson, Los Alamos
Adrian Angulo & Daniel Fahey, Rio Grande
OO –
Cat Escalona, Albuquerque Academy
Kelsey Maness, Albuquerque Academy
UISX –
Maya Gold, La Cueva
Justin Fouts, Eldorado
IX —
Evan Arnet, Eldorado
Katherine Leung, Albuquerque Academy
DI –
Randy Chavez, Rio Grande
Dominika Lopez, Rio Grande
HI –
Harry W. Green, Jemez Mountain Home School
Heidi Meyers, Albuquerque Academy

New York City
POLICY –
Daniel Goldstern & Anna Gordan, Stuyvesant
Mingching Kam & Vincent Dao, Stuyvesant
Sandesh Kataria & Andrew Huang, Stuyvesant
DUO –
Brendan Quinn & Dimitri Moise, Chaminade
Tiffany Mclarty & Tayshawn Layton, Bronx Prep
Andrew Tejada & Sandy Mai, Brooklyn Tech
OO –
Chris Moncrief, Bronx Prep
Deepti Wadhera, Syosset
Nicola Ryan, Regis
USX –
Bari Saltman, Berkeley Carroll
Philip Gillen, Regis
John O’Brien, Regis
IX —
Jovalin Dedaj, Fordham Prep
Michael Barton, Regis
Audrey Denis, Berkeley Carroll
DI –
James Dieffenbach, Regis
Victoria Myrthil, St. Joseph’s
Chandler Rosenthan, Berkeley Carroll
HI –
Sarah Ross, Syosset
Sari Sharoni, Stuyvesant
Kevin Quaratino, Loyola

New York State
POLICY –
Neil Bapodra & Ben Weiss, Newburgh Free (NFA)
DUO –
Angelos Tritaris & Noland Ralph, Iona Prep
Jarad Frank & Jeremy Frank, Scarsdale
OO –
Caroline Kitchener, Convent of the Sacred Heart
Katherine Limoncelli, Ursuline
USX –
Zohaib Chida, Scarsdale
James Abys-Smith, Iona Prep
IX —
Grant Dowling, Scarsdale
Peter Kentros, Scarsdale
DI –
Tariq Adely, Iona Prep
HI –
Frank DiCola, Iona Prep
Audrey Bridge, Ursuline

North Coast
POLICY –
Andrew Macklis & Erica Duff, Hawken
Paul Macklis & Michael Eby, Hawken
DUO –
Kathleen Antonelli & Maddie Fiderius, Laurel
Brooke Jarvis & Taylor Seay, Gilmour
OO –
Nathan Peereboom, Saint Ignatius
Brian Grady, Saint Ignatius
USX –
Anthony Wang, Solon
Ben Pfeifer, Saint Ignatius
IX —
James V. Mersol, University
George Zhao, Solon
DI –
Sarah L. Dunnavant, Edison
Jacob Negrey, Vermilion
HI –
Sean P. O’Brien, University
Natalie Pike, Gilmour

North Dakota Roughrider
POLICY –
John Kenney & Daniel Cho, Fargo Shanley
Phillip Thelen & Maxwell Tolstedt, Fargo Shanley
DUO –
Jonathan Wanner & Sarah Fredricks, Mandan
Evan Bloom & Tara Hutchinson, Richardton-Taylor
Hannah Andring & Lindsey Ellefson, Mandan
OO –
Eric Halvorson, West Fargo
Rachel Lewton, Bowman County
Mason Lende, Fargo Shanley
USX –
Will Bergstrom, Devils Lake
Angela Birchfield, Richland
IX —
Teagan Lende, Fargo Shanley
Chris Krapu, Valley City
DI –
Nick Leingang, Mandan
Andrew Rebel, Richardton-Taylor
Olivia Tyrrell, Richardton-Taylor
HI –
Dillon Hartl, Enderlin
Brittany Kuhn, Mandan

North Texas Longhorn
POLICY –
Andrew Murray & Alexander Nasr, Colleyville Heritage
Tyler Bagley & Joe Donaghy, Coppell
DUO –
Matthew King & Lawryn LaCroix, Creekview
Taylor Vannatta & Savannah Sirkel, Grand Prairie
OO –
Symone Gamble, Frisco
Sarah Nguyen, Centennial
USX –
Nicholas Stevens, Guyer
Amy Chen, Flower Mound
IX —
Katherine A. Mozynski, Coppell
Alejandro Martinez, Creekview
DI –
Nellsyn Hill, Creekview
Alexis Gette, Grand Prairie
HI –
Noriko Martinez, Grand Prairie
Cassie Koepf, Colleyville Heritage

Northeast Indiana
POLICY –
Manhar S. Grewal & Siva Muthusamy, Chesterton
Taylor Richison & Austin Andreas, Columbia City
DUO –
Michael A. Killen & Ryan Septon, Columbia City
Keffrey J. Deuberry & Jackson Fox, Chesterton
OO –
Hayley N. Miller, Chesterton
Elisabeth Kindmark, Chesterton
USX –
Tyler D. Fabbri, Chesterton
Tarun Jain, Homestead
IX —
Adam F. Potrzebowski, Chesterton
Srikanth Dasari, Northrop
DI –
Matthew Keeley, Chesterton
Drake Turner, Northrop
HI –
Peter Manges, R. Nelson Snider
Benjamin Silver, Canterbury

Northern Illinois
POLICY –
Flynn Makuch & Victor Shao, Glenbrook North
Colin Quinn & Will Thibeau, Glenbrook
DUO –
Francis Ian Blaise Austin & Hana Bajramovic, New Trier Township
Katerina G. Rallis & Julia Poukatch, Buffalo Grove
OO –
Jacqueline R. Sutherland, New Trier Township
Taneisha Prell, Walther Lutheran
USX –
Christina Baworowsky, Loyola Academy
Kyle Zak, Glenbrook North
IX —
Melissa Lee-Litowitz, Glenbrook North
Sam Bubnovich, Glenbrook South
DI –
Patrick Lawrie, GlenbrookSouth
Wendi Lulu Gu, New Trier Township
HI –
Wilfredo Ramos, New Trier Township
Tommy Sokolowski, Glenbrook South

Northern Ohio
DUO –
Monica Scarsella & Michael Lynch, Cardinal
Mooney
Carly Carano & Marissa LaGuardia, Cardinal
Mooney
John DePinto & John Monaroe, Ursuline
OO –
Leah Kook, John F. Kennedy
Andrew DiPaolo, Cardinal Mooney
USX –
Alex Draime, Howland
Rob Warchol, Cardinal Mooney
John Vagas, Canfield
IX —
Manish Mehta, Howland
Corey Okular, Cardinal Mooney
DI –
Kelly McGuire, Youngstown Christian
Paige Donatelli, Boardman
Jaclyn Williams, Boardman
HI –
Rachel Von Ahn, Poland Seminary
John Vitullo, Ursuline
Gino Pace, Canfield

Northern Lights
DUO –
Brian Johnson & Hanna Durfee, Denfeld
Jason Dennis & Luke Michael Swenson, Park
Rapids Area
Adam Christensen & Jorie Kosel, Moorhead
Senior
OO –
Jordan Lewis, St. Cloud Tech
Tristan Larson, Moorhead Senior
USX –
Seiko Shastri, Moorhead Senior
Brody Hageierner, St. Cloud Tech
IX —
Ashish Adhikari, Moorhead Senior
Bridget Corson, Walker
DI –
Corron Baskin, St. Cloud
Katelin Delorenzo, Walker
Donny Redding, Moorhead Senior
Nick Wheeler, Moorhead Senior
HI –
Malcolm Suits-Baer, Moorhead Senior
Rachel Clausen, Moorhead Senior
Patricia Martin, Walker

Northern Oregon
POLICY –
Joe Worthey & Taylor Howell, Century
Cameron Nilles & Mitch Dunn, Gresham-Barlow
DUO –
Mackenzie Bean & Jillian Prouty, Woodrow Wilson
Brittany Howard & Tess Kincaid, Gresham-Barlow
OO –
Afina Neunzert, Tigard
Diana Cater, Silverton
USX –
Christopher J. Axtman, Westview
Zach Johnston, Sprague
IX —
Alex Turzillo, Tigard
Marcus Robinson, Woodrow Wilson
DI –
Saraga Reddy, Tigard
Samuel D. Duzett, Glencoe
HI –
Stephanie D. McCurley, Gresham Barlow
Haley Karlson, Silverton

Northern South Dakota
POLICY –
James Kerr & Matthew Aadland, Brookings
Michael Holkesvik & Colter Heirigs, Aberdeen Central
DUO –
Lucy Wang & Zachary Kantack, Brookings
Claire Stone & Erin Williams, Watertown
OO –
Richard Marmorstein, Aberdeen Central
Olivia Hollan, Aberdeen Central
USX –
Shawn Schnabel, Aberdeen Central
Thad Titze, Watertown
IX —
Kelsey Mellan, Mitchell
Gabriel Erion, Brookings
DI –
Lyndsea Warkenthein, Huron
Adam Bradley, Brookings
HI –
Mike Schinderling, Huron
Laura Carver, Aberdeen Central

Northern Wisconsin
POLI CY –
Ian Miller & Cleo Johnson, Stevens Point
Amen Okundaye & Caitlin Holzem, Neenah
DUO –
Alyssa Mulder & Hannah Thompson, Appleton
East
Jerrod Woods & Elliot Johnson, Appleton East
OO –
Alice Zhao, Sheboygan North
Myranda Tanck, Sheboygan South
USX –
Tim Knoedler, Sheboygan North
Erin Birtton, Sheboygan North
IX —
Nathan Ruffolo, Appleton West
Cyndi Benz, Sheboygan South
DI –
Olivia Wulf, Appleton East
Claire Zhuang, Appleton East
HI –
Bethany Zeitler, Algoma
Jenna Huebner, Appleton East

Northwest Indiana
POLICY –
Hannah E. Coates & Thomas G. Leinhoop, LaPorte
Adam Bobeck & Justin Mulsea, Munster
DUO –
Elyse Estes & Kenn O’Drobinak, Munster
Andrew Sanchez & Richard Elm, Plymouth
OO –
Ben Varnum, Munster
Camden Robertson, Plymouth
USX –
Declan Fox, Plymouth
Alexander Parobek, Munster
IX —
Rebecca Moberly, Plymouth
Nithin Krishnan, Munster
DI –
John Patrick, Plymouth
Alexandra Kattan, Munster
HI –
Andrew Langdon, Plymouth
Daniel Linnear, Munster

Ozark
POLICY –
Sam May & Laura Ransin, Central HS - Springfield
Sarah Godwin & Myra Milam, Greenwood Lab School
Seth Carver & Cody Hagan, Nixa
DUO –
Zachary Perry & Trey Kalbaugh, Parkview
Brittany Perry & John Thornton, Parkview
Lauren Schriver & Joanna K. Smith, Central
OO –
Kyle Maggi, Kickapoo
Tausha Burton, Parkview
Garrett Pratt, Central
USX –
Emma McIntyre, Central
Matt Bateson, Central
Thomas Andrews, Parkview
IX —
Sieggy Bennicoff-Yundt, Central
Brittany Donnellan, Central
Forrest Brown, Central
DI –
Jeremy Eutsler, Parkview
Alyssa Eggleston, Ava
Ali Randolph, Hillcrest
Hannah Pounds, Houston
HI –
Katie Western, Nixa
Ty Harshman, Nixa
Bailey Norton, Marshfield

Pennsylvania
POLICY –
Alexander Pruce & Rachel Shaw, Trinity
DUO –
Tyler Estright & Grant M. DeArmitt, Bellwood Antis
OO –
Nathan Larimer, Bellwood Antis
USX –
Jonathan E. Thompson, Bellwood Antis
IX —
Edward Gray, Norwin
DI –
Devon R. Ingold, Bishop Carroll
HI –
Josh Rimmey, Bellwood Antis

Pittsburgh
POLICY –
Sean Sullivan & Colin McElhinny, Cathedral Prep
Jacob Werner & Kevin Ward, Cathedral Prep
DUO –
Sam Viggiano & Katie Giarla, Mt. Lebanon
Brendan McNally & Mishan Blecher, Upper Saint Clair
OO –
Kelsey A. Buchanan, Lakeview Christian Academy
Olivia Davis, Bishop Canevin
USX –
Sam Reynolds, Mt. Lebanon
Brent Heard, Upper St. Clair
IX —
Ryan Pollock, Mt. Lebanon
Stacey Chen, North Allegheny
DI –
Sam Droney, McDowell
Brittany Mohney, Mercer Area
HI –
Jessica Cadle, Mt. Lebanon
Brett Wittmershaus, McDowell

Puget Sound
POLICY –
Kayla Janyk & Gordon Freidman, Bellingham
Dakota Jeffrey Camacho & Stephanie E. Permut,
Mercer Island
DUO –
Henry Leonard Apfel & Charles Alex Simpson,
Edmonds Homeschool Resource Center
Emily Harrell & Stephanie Hare, Snohomish
OO –
Brittany Brock, Evergreen
Rachel Liddell, Seattle Academy of Arts & Science
USX –
Katherine Robinson, Glacier Peak
Carly Johnson, Snohomish
IX —
Jessica Freita, Snohomish
Liam Dalton, Snohomish
DI –
Jovanna Paunovic, Snohomish
Maddie Denman, Seattle Academy of Arts &
Science
HI –
Ben Symons, Seattle Academy of Arts & Science
Susie Clavadetscher, Snohomish

Rocky Mountain North
POLICY –
Ruwan Jayasumana & Ian Ingraham Ft. Collins
Cassie Garcia & Stefanie Casdorph, Greeley Central
DUO –
Tyler Janzen & Carson Wray, Rocky Mountain
Gina Lovell & Aaron Szindler, Battle Mountain
OO –
Weston Anderson, Peak to Peark
Peter Stein, Silver Creek
USX –
Alex Kreger, Poudre
Greg Blackston, Moffat County
IX —
Rachel Ford, Silver Creek
Christine Doran, Longmont
DI –
William Benich, Greeley Central
Curtis Lorio, Moffat County
HI –
Steven Sorenson, Rocky Mountain
Avery Anderson, Niwot

Rocky Mountain South
POLICY –
Jacob Zax & Taylor Want, Denver East
DUO –
Libby Howards & Harris Alterman, Denver East
Noah Kaplan & Ali Haas, Denver East
OO –
Elizabeth Cheever, Denver East
Suzette Turner, Denver East
USX –
Jenny Koch, Summit
IX —
David Mok-lamme, Palisade
DI –
Jessa Nagamoto, Regis Jesuit
Sophie Gideon, Denver East
HI –
Alexandria Lee-Natali, Denver East

Rushmore
POLICY –
Sam Miller & Tyler Gutzman, Vermillion
Emily Bosch & Mallory Schulte, Yankton
DUO –
Justin Ross & Adrielle Munger, Sioux Falls
Lincoln
Samantha Wakefield & Pete Heidepriem, Sioux
Falls Lincoln
OO –
Grace Chang, Sioux Falls Lincoln
Maggie Lawler, O’Gorman
USX –
Frank Liang, Sioux Falls Lincoln
Jesse Goodwin, Washington
IX —
Jiwen Li, Vermillion
Alicia Enterman, Vermillion
DI –
Elsa Vande Vegte, Sioux Falls Lincoln
Shipa Chandran, O’Gorman
HI –
Whitney Hartzell, O’Gorman
Tyler Jacobsen, O’Gorman

Sagebrush
POLICY –
Will Dornbrook & Evan Kleiner, Douglas
Jonathan A. McGuire & Janne Jensen, Reno
DUO –
Brandon Daily & Christian Burleson, Fernley
Mariah Reber & Cory Shrecengost, Spring Creek
OO –
Alexander K. Wilson, Reno
Clara Ritger, Douglas
USX –
Nathaniel Haas, Reno
Nolan Nicholson, Douglas
IX —
Noah O’Connor, Douglas
Suzan Duan, McQueen
DI –
Micaela M. Iveson, Reno
Amelia Ritger, Douglas
HI –
Austin Crown, McQueen
Kevin Kendrick, Douglas

San Francisco Bay
POLICY –
Kelly Del Curto & Ryan Blais, St. Vincent
Brian Bordley & Ethan Pawson, St. Vincent
Patrick Berger & Justin Chan, James Logan
DUO –
Ismael Williams & Drake Pough, James Logan
Steven Leal & Coleton Schmitto, James Logan
Ellen Howes & Sam Miller, Monte Vista
OO –
Miles Bridges, James Logan
Natasha Gupta, Monte Vista
Angelin Cheng, James Logan
USX –
Tony Thaweethai, James Logan
Louis Li, Monte Vista
Jason Kim, Monte Vista
IX —
Elliot Velson, Monte Vista
Benjamin Mabie, James Logan
Gurjot Mattu, James Logan
DI –
Steven Leal, James Logan
Nico Bremand, James Logan
Alexa Rocero, James Logan
HI –
Jordan G. Moshe, Miramonte
Neelam Kumar, James Logan
Sam Miller, Monte Vista

Show Me
POLICY –
Lauren Dollar & Mike Selck, Blue Springs
Isaac Alpert & Grant Barrow, The Pembroke Hill School
Thomas Hodgman & Peter Vale, The Pembroke Hill School
DUO –
Ellen Sherman & Jessica Williams, Blue Springs South
Erica Israel & Brett Lowther, Blue Springs South
Coby Nattier & Jacob Helton, Blue Springs
OO –
Alexandria M. Wilson, Grandview
Katherine Smith, The Pembroke Hill School
Jennifer Tian, Warrensburg
USX –
Nicholas E. Rivers, Raytown South
Marilyn Robb, The Pembroke Hill School
Brittany Sanders, The Pembroke Hill School
IX —
Phil A. Easley, Raytown South
Joelle Wight, Blue Springs
Chris Gunn, Blue Springs
DI –
Austin Groves, Blue Springs
Megan Petrie, Blue Springs
Darius Wilson, Blue Springs
HI –
Teonna T. Wesley, Raytown South
Tiara Tyson, Blue Springs
Tyler Dailey, Blue Springs

Sierra
POLICY –
Joseph H. Davis & Brian Austin, Centennial
Christian Ybarra & Mariah L. Geis, Sanger
Lauren Kelly & Bobby Mireles, Sanger
DUO –
Tessa Cheney & Samantha Parchim, Sanger
Stephanie Aranda & Stephanie Caudle,
Bakersfield
OO –
Eleanor Hurtt, Edison Computech
James Cobern, Clovis East
USX –
Katlyn A. Cumberworth, Bakersfield
Nicholas Ogbuehi, Edison
Sidney Thompson, Bullard
IX —
Isabel Santos-Gonzales, Edison
Charles Bell, Sanger
DI –
Sarafina Maxey, Clovis East
Vicky Palacios, Bullard
HI –
Laura Wilson, Bakersfield
Ibraheem Ali, Edison

Singapore
DUO –
Nagrani Vinesh Anil, & Andrew Mark Ong, Anglo-Chinese Junior College
OO –
Lee Jia Wei, Raffles Junior College
Yip Yuk Lum Jennifer, Nanyang Girls High School
IX —
Anish Hazra, Raffles Junior College
Jessica Lee Chu En, Nanyang Girls High School
DI –
Arjuna s/o Segathesan, Naitonal Junior College
HI –
Archana Sundrara, Anglo-Chinese Junior College

South Carolina
DUO –
Ricky Pulley & Andre Sullivan, Southside
Eeshwar Chandrawekar & Rachel Boone, Mauldin
OO –
Gary Fan, Southside
Michelle Chapman, Riverside
USX –
David Lane, Riverside
Stephen A. Lovegrove, Bob Jones Academy
IX —
Alicha M. Grubb, Bob Jones Academy
Alyssa Thornton, Mauldin
DI –
Benjamin Leder, Riverside
Kristen Watts, Riverside
HI –
Charlene Hong, Riverside
Lauren Kumler, Mauldin

South Florida
POLICY –
Joseph Tahbaz & Rodrigo Quirch, Christopher Columbus
DUO –
Julie Ghazi & Stefani Gutierrez, Braddock
Raul Ruffin & Winston Ayala, Miami Southridge Sr.
OO –
Pearleen Lederman, Michael Krop
Xavier May, Miami Southridge Sr.
USX –
Justin Epstein, Ransom Everglades
Eric Moussa, Belen Jesuit Prep
IX —
Jose Bengochea, Ransom Everglades
Joseph Santos, Belen Jesuit Prep
DI –
Nicholas Ley, Belen Jesuit Prep
Nikole Cintron, Michael Krop
HI –
Joseph Egozi, Michael Krop
Stephanie Fischer, Michael Krop

South Kansas
POLICY –
Brittney Doherty & Kim Stone, Fort Scott
Sterling Braun & Jacoby Zielinski, Fort Scott
Karli Aitken & Tiffany Lin Field Kindley
DUO –
Chris Herman & Kai Simmons, Fort Scott
Garrett Baugher & Addi Brown, Fort Scott
OO –
Tara Moreland, Parsons
Vyonis N. Schnell, Derby
USX –
Eric Trey Mueller, Field Kindley
Angel West, Fort Scott
IX —
Dalton Mott, Independence
Keifer Cruse, Fort Scott
DI –
Erin Allen, Fort Scott
Levi Nord, Mulvane
HI –
Shaelynn L. French, Derby
Nick Valin, Mulvane

South Oregon
POLICY –
Ryan Mills & Willis Plummer, Ashland
Tim Borgerson & Tim Harper, Ashland
DUO –
John D. Castaldi & Tatiana R. Havill, Bandon
Ellen Fields & Jamey Moriarty, Marshfield
OO –
Forrest Wells, Ashland
Phoebe Petersen, Mountain View
USX –
Nellie Hall, Summit
Emily Hayes, Summit
IX —
Tobiah Meinzen, North Eugene
Matthew Trono, Summit
DI –
Corinna R. Warner, Bandon
Justin Rodriquez, Marshfield
HI –
Hannah Troxel, Willamette
Joe Frost, Marshfield

South Texas
POLICY –
Matthew Liu & Jacob Uzman, Bellaire
Zexing Meng & Rishi Shah, Bellaire
Jacob Aronowitz & David Wang, Bellaire
DUO –
Danny Larrea & Emily Bordages, Lamar Consolidated
Jeb Bustamante & Josh Amaris, Elkins
Andrew Russell & Porscha Shaw, Lamar
Consolidated
OO –
Jazsmin Douglas, Westside
Michael Ihekwoaba, Lamar Consolidated
Ivan Espinosa, Westside
USX –
Lauren N. Tolat, Westfield
Jordon Walker, Elkins
Patrick Oathout, Lamar
Sean Fleming, Westfield
IX —
Sesenu Woldenmariam, Lamar
Sibo Wang, Clear Lake
Sabrina Khwaja, Lamar
DI –
Brandon K. Barnes, Westside
Lindsley Howard, Elkins
Ausar Moore, Lamar Consolidated
HI –
Wade Johnson, Lamar Consolidated
Mike Yates, Westside
Kristi Board, Friendswood

Southern California
POLICY –
Chris Blomberg & Eli Emigh, Claremont
Ryan Hunt & Connor Braman, LaCosta Canyon
DUO –
Taylor Chertkov & Maya Meisner, Helix Charter
Andrew Kessler & Natasha Holly, Redlands
OO –
Katherine Dwyer, LaCosta Canyon
Jessica Kaushal, Redlands
USX –
Anuv Ratan, Claremont
Bobby Konoske, El Modena
IX —
Maddie Zhu, Claremont
Laurell Wilkie, Claremont
DI –
Julie Brown, Helix Charter
Alynia Phillips, Carlsbad
HI –
Noah Nevins, La Costa Canyon
Pranay Yeturu, Claremont

Southern Minnesota
POLICY –
Jenn Beard & Ognjen Zugic, Wayzata
Laura Hoffman & Tanay Mehta, Eden Prairie
Krishnan Ramanujan & Noah Rosenthal, Wayzata
DUO –
Greta Besser & Adam Bouchareb, Lakeville North
Joshua Evans & Robert Knapp, Eagan
Aaron Straka & Lauren Stopfer, Eagan
OO –
Joe Thomas, Eagan
Anastacia Economou, Eagan
Vallari Ajgaonkar, Eden Prairie
USX –
Dylan Slinger, Lakeville South
Amanda Johnson, Eagan
Elisabeth White, Lakeville North
IX —
Karen Zhou, Lakeville North
Steven Elliott, Lakeville North
Namita Desai, Eagan
DI –
Javier Ferreira, Eagan
Meghan Kreidler, Eagan
Kirby Schmidt, Marshall
HI –
Jessica Soderbeck, Eagan
Matt Mills, Lakeville North
Jaci Berkopec, Eagan

Southern Wisconsin
POLICY –
Joe Ballstreri & Michael Hoffmann, Marquette University
Ben Benson & Noah Charles, Marquette University
DUO –
Andrew Muir & Jamie Caneff, James Madison Memorial
Michael Meidl & Christopher Vosters, Brookfield East
OO –
Margaret Bedwell, Brookfield East
Michael Freitag, Brookfield East
USX –
Michelle Yang, James Madison Memorial
Andrew Shrawder, Brookfield East
IX —
Jason Schwartz, Nicolet
Abhilash Sandreeddy, James Madison Memorial
DI –
Colin Woodbury, James Madison Memorial
Sarah Arbaje, James Madison Memorial
HI –
Jonathan Spence, Wauwatosa West
Spencer O’Rourke, James Madison Memorial

Space City
POLICY –
Annum Faisa & Thomas Kruse, Houston-Memorial
Zachary Olivier & Samara Faisal, Houston-Memorial
DUO –
Irene Galvan & Corbin Paulino, Hastings
Lario Albarran & Ray Roberts, Cypress Ridge
OO –
Nickolas Muckleroy, Alief Taylor
Khai Pham, Alief Elsik
USX –
Nicholas Cugini, Cypress Ridge
Rita Asuquo, Alief Elsik
Ivan Morales, Alief Elsik
IX —
Bushra Rahman, Alief Elsik
Sameeha Vaid, Alief Elsik
DI –
Robert Jackson, Hastings
Tretitia Hobbs, Alief Elsik
HI –
Brett Gray, Cypress Ridge
Bradley Rheinboldt, Cypress Ridge

Sundance
POLICY –
Madison Rodabough & Hayden Warren, Bingham
Nick Roberts & Robert Grange, Juan Diego
Catholic HS
DUO –
Jayde Clark & Spencer Waters, Bingham
Brett Stanfield & Stephanie Cha, Carbon
OO –
Brian Powell, Carbon
Alexis Despain, Bingham
USX –
Michael Wagner, Bingham
IX —
Jordan Roberts, Bingham
Shelbi Anderson, Alta
DI –
Hailey Henderson, Grand County
Lacey Brinkerhoff, Carbon
HI –
Andrew Ackerman, Provo
Josh Bone, Carbon

Sunflower
POLICY –
Branden R. Barrientez & Shelbie A. Konkel, Campus
Logan Thomas & Preston Peer, Wichita Northwest
Eric Benedict & Cole Davidson, Andover Central
DUO –
Stevon Kline & Ryan Rubia, Valley Center
Josh Rozof & Madison Campbell, Wichita East
OO –
Eric T. Moody, Goddard
Evan M. Hernandez, Wichita East
USX –
Jo Behrman, Wichita East
Tyler Joe, Maize
Brett Seidl, Valley Center
IX —
Wennie Wang, Wichita East
Jonathan A. Lewallen, Wichita East
DI –
Adrianna Marie Turner, Wichita East
Erin Stone, Valley Center
HI –
Shane E. Rogers, Campus
Tyler W. Pennick, Campus

Tall Cotton
POLICY –
Blake O’Hare & Cameron Kirkland, Farwell
Samantha Koss & Kayla Meyer, Cooper
DUO –
Maggie Loeppky & Stephanie Ross, Seminole
Bethany Davila & Brooke Addison, Seminole
OO –
Josh Zinn, Canyon
Alexa Gervasi, Amarillo
USX –
David M. Pippen, Monahans
Amber Hastings, Tascosa
IX —
Tyler Mahan, Canyon
Sarah Schwartz, Amarillo
DI –
Peru Flores, Odessa Permian
Toni Stevenson, Cooper
HI –
Richard M. Harris, Hereford
Andrew Young, Canyon

Tarheel East
DUO –
Hunter Ochletree & Kyle Ocheltree, Pinecrest
Emily Brownback & Evan Sherwood, Pinecrest
OO –
Peacemaker Myoung, Seventy-First
Lamont O’Neal, E. E. Smith
USX –
Ethan Grant, Durham Academy
Nathaniel Donahue, Durham Academy
IX —
Ben Denton, Pinecrest
Trey Gordner, Jack Britt
DI –
Markisha Richmond, E. E. Smith
Deanne Sowers, Jack Britt
HI –
Jenny Questell, Pinecrest
Molly Griggs, Terry Sanford

Tennessee
POLICY –
Sam Page & Rahul Sastry, Montgomery Bell (MBA)
DUO –
Davis Denney & Sarah Keaggy, Brentwood Academy
Nathan McGhee & Jesse Reed, Morristown East
Hannah C. Andrews & Randal M. Dierkes, Ravenwood
OO –
Melissa Chanthalangsy, Collierville
Lizzie Neiman, Ravenwood
USX –
Keith W. Neely, Brentwood
Evan Ford, Brentwood Academy
IX —
Aaron Lutkowitz, Montgomery Belll Academy
Joey Meyer, Merrol Hyde Magnet School
DI –
Ryan Coil, Brentwood Academy
Laura Burgin, Brentwood Academy
HI –
Kyle Long, Morristown West
Jack Johnson, Brentwood Academy

Three Trails
POLICY –
Josh Dean & Taylor Nichols, Blue Valley
Patrick Githens & Kendell Kaut, Olathe North
DUO –
William Easley & Alder Roberts, Blue Valley North
Shaun Sutton & Aubrey Ireland, Blue Valley North
OO –
Khrystal Johnson, Sumner Academy
Katie Gwynn, St. Thomas Aquinas
USX –
Natalie Phillips, St. Thomas Aquinas,
Jonathan Nebel, Blue Valley
IX —
Maggie Weller, St. Thomas Aquinas
Tyler Kalmus, Blue Valley
DI –
Marcus Banks, Sumner Academy
Stephanie Desiree Pounds, Sumner Academy
HI –
Emily Boresow, Blue Valley North
Anne Elise Dimas, Blue Valley North

UIL
POLICY –
Andrew Cornish & Tyler Gregston, Hallsville
Tyler Rutledge & Becca Wortman, Lindale
Jessica McCreary & Nicole West, Hallsville
DUO –
Amanda Abernathy & Kelsey Moses, Bullard
OO –
Kristi Karrenbrock, Lindale
Elmira Mehdizadeh, Lindale
OO –
Haley Wheat, Whitehouse
Erin Dulaney, Hallsville
Lauren Seher, Lindale
IX —
Sabrina McCutchan, Wills Point
William Goette, North Lamar
Michael A. Knous, Jr, Van
DI –
David Parker, Lindale
HI –
Kyle R. Vest, Mexia
Kelsey C. Craig, Mexia

Utah Wasatch
POLICY –
James Stevenson & Jake Shaner, Davis
Kristen Soelberg & Emma Thompson, Davis
DUO –
Rayce Dendel & Tanner Isom, Viemont
Arissa Brown & McKinzie Moore, Sky View
OO –
Andrew Graybill, Viewmont
Andrea Thompson, Sky View
USX –
Scott Nielsen, Ogden
Alison Fabricius, Sky View
IX —
Sam Bennion, Sky View
Payden McRoberts, Davis
DI –
Jane Bruce, Ogden
Berlin Schlegel, Murray
HI –
Nikki Hopkins, Sky View
James Collard, Davis

Valley Forge
POLICY –
Joshua O. Thorn & James R. Benischeck, La Salle College
Gregory B. Porter & Brian Higgins, La Salle College
DUO –
Joseph Geoghan & Daniel Marcel, Holy Ghost Prep
Anthony Hopkins & Joseph Gallagher, Holy Ghost Prep
OO –
Alphonce Mshomba, Holy Ghost Prep
Dana M. Urgan, Southern Lehigh
USX –
John Lisman, E. L. Meyers
Jonathon C. Wilt, La Salle College
IX —
Tara Riggs, Pennsbury
Brendan Zehner, St. Joseph’s Prep
DI –
Michael Dahlgren, Holy Ghost Prep
Margaret M. Quigley, Southern Lehigh
HI –
Eric Stone, La Salle College
Alexandra Swartz, Shikellamy

Virginia
POLICY –
Esha Kapania & Allie Cohill, Blacksburg
Saad Khan & Steven Brunner, Dominion
Marv Robbit & Bobby Bobbit, Broad Run
DUO –
Jonathan Walker & Danielle Stump, Salem
Aaron Strom & Michael Schantz, Hargrave
Military School
Lawrence A. Thomas & Clarence Bell, Hargrave Military School
OO –
Rory Squire, Madison County
Kenny Lau, Chantilly
Katherine Willis, Sherando
USX –
Brennan Morris, Randolph-Macon
Nikki Luke, Blacksburg
Joanne Tranquile, Salem
IX —
Jerrel Ledbetter, Salem
Carl David Goette-Luciak, Blacksburg
Will Dungan, Randolph-Macon
DI –
Forrest Sassaman, Strasburg
Onofrio Castiglia, John Handley
Shayana Oakley, West Potomac
HI –
Clay Bradshaw, Salem
Sundar Mallikarjunan, Blacksburg
Luke Daniels, Battlefield

West Los Angeles
POLICY –
Nicholas Donlan & Jan Flatley-Feldman, Loyola
Anthony Liu & Stephanie Ho, West HS - Torrance
DUO –
Justin Restaino & Matt Weber, Fullerton Joint
Union
Mathew Jenskins & Shane Brandon, Fullerton Joint
Union
OO –
Andrea Slobodien, Fullerton Join Union
Maurice Cunningham, Fullerton Joint Union
USX –
Nick Hall, Valencia
James Nee, Palos Verdes Peninsula
IX —
Neeraj Chandra, Chaminade College
Olivia Polk, La Reina
DI –
Vanessa Garcia, Fullerton Joint Union
Katherine Frutchey, Fullerton Joint Union
HI –
Tosh Alexander Hall, Charter Early College
Elle Pratt, Fullerton Joint Union

West Iowa
POLICY –
Natasha Dutta & Allie Windergerst, West Des Moines Valley
Alexa Reynolds & Joe Ellerbroek, West Des Moines Valley
DUO –
Miranda Taiber & Ryan Trout, Dowling Catholic
Abby Bockhaus & Matt Pierick, Dowling Catholic
OO –
Clare Roth, Dowling Catholic
Bridget Sheaff, Dowling Catholic
USX –
Mirza Germovic, Des Moines Roosevelt
Amelia Martin, Des Moines Roosevelt
IX —
Spender Sheaff, Dowling Catholic
Chris Oman, Des Moines Roosevelt
DI –
Michael Braga, Winterset
Tanya Thomas, Lincoln
HI –
Christopher Tedford, Atlantic
Ryan Steele, Dowling Catholic

West Kansas
POLICY –
Stefan Mattox & Katelin Morey, Hutchinson
Amanda Ramirez & Todd Wells, Garden City
Jacob Benson & Max Goering, McPherson
DUO –
Emily Walker & Sam Leake, Sterling
Allison Yaple & Courtney Tejral, McPherson
OO –
Sydney Parriott, Salina Central
Allexis Lightsey, Hutchinson
Vance Stegman, Lyons
USX –
Phillip Bradshaw, Newton
Davis Mattek, Salina Central
IX —
Sean Bender, Sacred Heart Jr/Sr HS
William Newell, Newton
DI –
Jordan Parkin, Garden City
Marike Stucky, Moundridge
Megan Walker, Sterling
HI –
Brandon Daley, Salina Central
Brendon Burge, McPherson

West Texas
POLICY –
Roberto Garza & Rudolfo Fierro, Coronado
DUO –
Pilar Padilla & Javier Williams, Bel Air
Yalda Mastajeran & Doha Hussein, Hanks
OO –
Emily Artalejo, Hanks
Johnathan Dominguez, Eastwood
USX –
Shea Houlihan, Franklin
Patricia Luna, Ysleta
IX —
Ashley Oshiro, Del Valle
Nicholas Zebrowski, Franklin
DI –
Antonio Romero, Bel Air
Catherine Marsden, Eastwood
HI –
Sarah Soto, Eastwood
Eraina Porras, Hanks

Western Ohio
POLICY –
Colin Ward & Caroline Paule, Oakwood
Ben Hawkins & Marcus Vierecki, Oakwood
DUO –
Kathryn DeLapp & Hayley Reynolds, Notre Dame
Academy
Garet Camella & Dan Moore, Gahanna Lincoln
OO –
Patrick Seick, Middletown
Jamie Zipfel, Perrysburg
USX –
Dennis Johnson, Gahanna Lincoln
David Libbe, Perrysburg
IX —
Jason Ginn, Perrysburg
Siobhan Tellez, Oakwood
DI –
Joanna Draper, Oakwood
Alexis Gipson-Goodenough, Notre Dame
Academy
HI –
Tyler Rife, Oakwood
James Oswalt, Northeastern

Western Oklahoma
POLICY –
Andrew Connery & Kristiana Baez, Norman
Kristin Novakowsky & Kelsey Nowell, Edmond
Memorial
Zain Raza & Cabot Dimick, Edmond Memorial
DUO –
David Postic & Erick Lee Lind, Westmoore
Ty Fanning & Devon Hannaford, Mustang
Tyler Pipkin & Kaitlyn Stuhlmiller, Choctaw
OO –
Amanda Ack, Ardmore
Philip Parrish, Norman
USX –
Thomas Teague, Clayton
Brad Crofford, Bethany
IX —
Anika Nehreen-Khan, Norman North
Kelly O’Sullivan, Guymon
DI –
Timothy Burgess, Edmond Memorial
Rachael Barry, Westmoore
Olivia Amundsen, Bishop McGuiness
HI –
Andrew Keeler, Norman
Stephanie Milligan, Bishop McGuiness
Garrett Starks, Cherokee

Western Washington
POLICY –
Roger Copenhaver & Alysia L. G. Lohman, Puyallup
DUO –
Emily Angulo & Blaine Nuttall, Auburn Riverside
Andrew Shimer & Jeff Bingham, Federal Way
OO –
Erin Lopez, Thomas Jefferson
Sam Tang, Federal Way
USX –
Jonathan Mount, Thomas Jefferson
Meyer Kinzerok, Gig Harbor
IX —
Mitch Murdock, Kingston
Sam Schumer, Thomas Jefferson
DI –
Joen Vakauta, Thomas Jefferson
Shelby Easley, Federal Way
HI –
Garrick R. E. Graham, Federal Way
Danielle Renella, Gig Harbor

Wind River
POLICY –
Shelby Moore & Jason Harker, Powell
DUO –
Glenn Prell & Chase Werbelow, Powell
Jacob Borchardt & Cameron Finley, Green River
OO –
Cady Favazzo, Rock Springs
Krysta Cassidy, Lander Valley
USX –
Madison Orcutt, Natrona County
Kyle Gilman, Powell
IX —
Jennifer Ramsey, Rock Springs
Sam Bentley, Green River
DI –
Richelle Hughes, Douglas
Victoria Skinner, Riverton
HI –
Michael Conner, Greybull
Matthew Condie, Powell

Today we have a new commentary from the reigning National Champion in Lincoln-Douglas debate, Todd Liipfert.

Liipfert speaks:

First of all, congratulations on making it to Nationals. It’s is already an achievement to have made it to the tournament. I hope that you enjoy your week of competition and wish you good luck. Due to the length and format of the tournament, Nationals was an almost new and altogether unique debate tournament for me. Finding myself on the stage on Friday was almost as big of a surprise for me as it was my family but nevertheless an experience that I will never forget. From Sam Duby’s pre-tournament ridicules to the speech by Abraham Lincoln before the finals to the embarrassingly huge banner my dad hung outside of my house, I will remember my tournament forever. I hope that you have an equally memorable time with your friends and peers.

As Nationals is such a different breed of tournament, here are a few things that I hope will help you do your best and have a great experience.

First, the most important piece of advice I can give is to be aware of your audience. This includes both your judges. The image you present in the round is very important. So be yourself, don’t goof around too much, and come prepared.

Second, relax and enjoy the tournament. Try to take everything in stride and try not to stress about judges, opponents, or your record. Because the tournament is so unique, it is anyone’s game. Don’t freak out if you don’t think you got the right judge or you recognize your opponent from throughout the year. Your opponent has the same chance to win the judge as you do walking into the round. Keep your head up and do your best. Don’t let one off round keep you down either, try to approach every round with a clean slate and clear head.

Third, get your rest. Being ready to go is never a bad thing and nothing is better than being relaxed, calm, and confident during your rounds. Allocate time for prep with your team, hanging out with your friends and seeing the city, and sleep in the blocks of time off that the tournament has. The tournament is a marathon and can drain you if you aren’t careful.

Finally, I cannot stress enough how important it is that you enjoy the whole experience and make sure that you are having fun. Whether you are a freshman and this is one of the first of many tournaments to come or you are a senior and this is the last tournament you will attend, remember to enjoy yourself. I hope that you have blast. Enjoy!

—
Now an assistant coach at Walt Whitman High School in Maryland, Todd Liipfert is the reigning National Champion in Lincoln-Douglas debate.

Winning the NFL National Championship was the crowning achievement of Liipfert’s successful career. As a debater, he reached the final round of the Minneapple at Apple Valley High School, the semifinal round of the University of Texas Longhorn Classic, and the quarterfinals of both the Texas Forensic Association State Tournament and the Glenbrooks. He also debated in the outrounds at the National High School Tournament of Champions. While he a dominant debater on the national circuit, Liipfert was also a dedicated debater locally, where his accomplishments included winning the Cinco Ranch Round-up.

Many thanks to the Family Houston for this great list of suggestions for restaurants, nightlife, and shopping!

Paige’s Picks For Restaurants, Nightlife and Shopping

Restaurant Pricing Legend

$ (5-10) $$(10-18) $$$(20-up)

Hoover Area

1. Shula’s Steakhouse $$$ (American Traditional) Located in Wynfrey Hotel @ 1000 Riverchase Galleria 205-987-1600
2. Chicory Grill $$ (American Traditional) Located in Wynfrey Hotel @ 1000 Riverchase Galleria 205-987-1600

3. Jim ‘N Nick’s BBQ $ (Southern BBQ) Located @ 1810 Montgomery Hwy.

205-733-1300

4. La Dolce Vita $$ (Italian) Located @ 1851 Montgomery Hwy.

205-989-2909

Inverness Area

1. Prairie Fire Grill $$ (American Traditional) Located @ 5624 Hwy. 280

205-991-1313

2. Mellow Mushroom $ (Pizza Parlor) Located @ 920 Inverness Corners

205-981-9914

Southside/Five Points Area

1. Ocean $$$ (Seafood) Located @ 1218 20th St. South

205-933-0999

2. Hot n Hot Fish Club $$$ (Seafood) Located @ 2180 11th Court South

205-933-5474
Southside/Five Points Area (continued)

3. DreamLand BBQ $ (BBQ) Located @ 1427 14th Avenue South

205-933-2133

4. Cobb Lane $ (French) Located @ 1 Cobb Lane

205-933-0462

5. Highlands Bar and Grill $$$ (American Traditional) Located @ 2011 11th Ave. South

205-939-1400

6. Bottega $$$ (Italian) Located @ 2240 Highland Ave. South

205-939-1000

Lakeview Area

1. Lakeview Oyster House $ (Seafood) 731 29th St. South 205-252-5888

2. Bombay Café $$$ (American Traditional) 2839 7th Ave. South

205-322-1930

Homewood Area

1. Copper Grill $$$ (Steakhouse) 595 Brookwood Village 205-414-1411

2. Brio $$ (Tuscan) 591 Brookwood Village 205-879-9177

Hwy 280 Summit Mall Blvd. Area

Cheesecake Factory, P. F Changs, Macaroni Grill, Tavern @ The Summit, California Pizza Kitchen

Shopping

Hoover Area
1. Riverchase Galleria Mall (Parisian, Gap, Macys) 3000 Riverchase Galleria

205-985-3020

Hwy 280 Area

1. The Summit Mall (Saks 5th Ave, BeBe, Anthropologie, Ann Taylor)

Located @ 214 Summit Blvd. 205-967-0111

Homewood

1. Brookwood Village Mall (Macys, Gus Mayer, Betsy Prince)

Located @ 780 Brookwood Vlg.205-871-0406
2. Downtown Homewood (18th St. South: Antiques, Clothing, Home Interiors, Jewelry)
Nightlife

Hoover Area

1. Ivory’s Lounge (piano lounge) Located @ 1000 Riverchase Galleria 205-987-1600

2. Red Line Bar and Grill (piano lounge) Located @ 1615 Montgomery Hwy. Suite 100

205-823-1488

Inverness/Hwy. 280 Area

1. Mellow Martini (martini lounge) Located @ 5426 Hwy. 280 205-437-0118

2. Fox & Hound (sports bar) Located @ 3425 Colonnade Parkway 205-968-3823

Lakeview Area

1. Innisfree (Irish Pub) Located @ 710 29th St. South 205-252-4255

2. The Barking Kudu (live music) Located @ 2929 7th Ave. South 205-328-1748

3. Lou’s Pub (pub style bar) Located @ 726 29th St. South 205-933-2778

* All nightlife in Lakeview is in walking distance from each other

Southside/Five Points Area

1. Blue Monkey (martini lounge) Located @ 1318 Cobb Lane 205-933-9222

2. Dave’s Pub (pub style bar) Located @ 1128 20th St. South 205-933-4030

3. Fletchers (Irish Pub) Located @ 2011 Highland Ave. South 205-933-6267

4. Garage Café (eccentric outdoor bar, rated in GQ last year) Located @ 2304 10th Terrace South 205-322-3220

5. Club Red (DJ dance club) Located @ 2015 Highland Ave. South 205-933-1983

6. Bell Bottoms (80’s DJ dance club) Located @ 2001 Highland Ave. South

205-933-2778

* Most nightlife in Southside is in walking distance from each other

Downtown

1. Metro Bistro (pub style bar) Located @ 2125 2nd Ave. North 205-323-7995

2. Workplay (Live music club) Located @ 500 23rd St. South 205-380-4082

3. 22nd St. Jazz Café (Jazz club) Located @ 710 22nd St. South 205-252-0407

4. The U @ 1st & 23rd (techno club) 205-323-4266

You can access the list of qualifiers in Lincoln-Douglas debate and Public Forum debate by accessing VBD’s code-sharing page for those events.

You can access the list of qualifiers in policy debate and the Individual Events by accessing VBD’s code-sharing page for those events.

To start us off, here are some reflections from the 2006 National Champion, Douglas Jeffers, originally composed a year after his victory. His advice still rings true today!

Jeffers speaks:

Hello all…. I wish you all the very best of luck, and I hope you all have a delightful experience. I have been asked to share four thoughts with you all as you get ready for the big week.

Nationals is certainly one of a kind in my opinion. It is much bigger than almost any other tournament you are likely to attend, and it certainly takes the most time. Nationals can be intimidating, and a week of debate can seem grueling, but I really want to encourage all of you to enjoy yourselves. I enjoyed debating at Nationals more than at any other tournament of my career — though I can think of one very good reason for that — and I hope to share a few words that will make the experience more enjoyable for you.

First, don’t stress yourself out during the tournament. It is spread out over a week, and there is plenty of downtime. Whatever you do don’t spend all of it feverishly prepping and getting anxious about the next round. It probably won’t help you any, and it will most likely only make you flustered in your next round, instead, relax a bit, and enjoy the tournament.

Second, don’t complain about the judging. Though this is always good advice, I think it is very important at Nationals. You ought to know going in what the judging pool will expect. Debaters with smart arguments and the ability to clearly communicate them win at Nationals. You know this now, prepare accordingly. Don’t base everything you are planning to do on sneaky flow tricks, and then complain when you lose, things will be no fun for you or anyone else.

Third, and this I think is most important, enjoy the rounds. For me, Nationals was an opportunity to engage in a little different style of debate than I was used to. It was slower, there were fewer arguments in every round, and I found I enjoyed it. The peculiar style of Nationals seems to lend itself to what I might call “all the cards on the table” debate. The slower speed and lower number of arguments means there really isn’t all that much opportunity for slight of hand debate tricks. There is pretty much no way to win short of substantively engaging you opponents position, and I for one found the opportunity refreshing. Just go into each round thinking about you can beat the other position as a whole, and leave behind your little bag of flow tricks. You might find the whole business of getting into substantive discussions with intelligent people highly edifying.

Last, don’t worry about whether you are winning. One of the hardest things is going through six rounds not knowing your record. Despite your best efforts, you will probably not be able to guess how you are doing very well. Last year after the first six rounds, I thought there was a good chance I hadn’t cleared. I wound up with ten ballots. The best bet is to assume every round that you are still in, but need the rest of you ballots. Finally, after the out rounds start, don’t get caught up in the enormity of the tournament. Just take it one round at a time. If you lose, don’t worry about it, just keep debating, almost everyone in the tournament takes a loss at some point.

So much for my advice. Nationals can be an incredibly rewarding experience for everyone involved, I wish you all luck.

—
Now an assistant coach at both the Bronx High School of Science in New York, Douglas Jeffers was the 2006 National Champion in Lincoln-Douglas debate. He achieved consistent success from the earliest stages of his career.

After compiling an exceptionally strong record locally in both middle school and the early part of his career at Dulles High School, Douglas qualified to Nationals his freshman year. He advanced to the tenth round at the tournament while consistently defeating more senior competition; his streak was stopped only when he was eliminated from the tournament by the eventual National Champion. (It was a split decision.) As a junior, Douglas claimed the championships of both the Florida Blue Key and the Lexington Winter Classic, and advanced to finals at the NCFL Grand National Tournament. He was also the top speaker at the TFA State Tournament. As a senior, Douglas was the top speaker at the Greenhill Fall Classic and the champion of Emory University’s Barkley Forum for High Schools, the New York City Invitational (Big Bronx XXXV), and the Bronx Round Robin. Over the course of his career, Douglas won the majority of the tournaments he has attended. He qualified to the NFL National Tournament three times and to the National Tournament of Champions two times. As a senior, he advanced to the semifinals of the TOC just weeks before winning Nationals. He was a student for two summers at the Victory Briefs Institute and has taught there since 2006.

While I am saddened that this will be the first NFL Nationals I’ve missed since 2003, I am excited to be coordinating with Mike Bietz and our Victory Briefs Daily guest correspondent team to provide our traditional round-by-round coverage throughout the week-long event. Details of that coverage will be released over the next few days.

In the meantime, be sure to check out the schedule for the week.

You can access the article about Baker by clicking here.

Tickets will be provided to coaches at registration for either the 7 PM or 8:30 PM performance time. Doors will open at 6:30 PM for the first show and 8:15 PM for the second show.

Notable thespians and NFL alumni will convene in the Sheraton-Birmingham Ballroom 1 on Thursday, June 18 at 10 am. Students and coaches are invited to hear what television, stage, and film stars learned from their days in NFL and how they parlayed a forensics background into a career. The panel discussion will be moderated by NFL Hall of Fame coach Randy McCutcheon.

Personalities scheduled to appear at our Inside the NFL Actor’s Studio include the following:

DANIEL BEATY hails from Miami Valley School in Ohio, where he reigned as the NFL National Champion in DI in 1994. Daniel is a playwright, actor, singer and composer. He has performed at the White House, the Apollo and The Kennedy Center. Daniel recently completed sold-out extended run of his one-man play Emergence-See! off-Broadway at the Public Theater. Daniel has received many awards including the 2007 Obie Award for Outstanding Writing and Performance and the 2006 Ovation, Acclaim, & Everyday Freedom Hero Awards. Daniel is also the 2004 Grand Slam Champion at the world famous Nuyorican Poet’s Café and The Fox Network’s National Redemption Slam Champion.

JOSH GAD is a graduate of the University School of Florida, where he earned the title of National Champion in Original Oratory in both 1998 and 1999. You’ve seen Josh on television in Numbers and ER, as well as his role as a news director on Back to You. Josh has joined CBS’ comedy Waiting to Die as a regular and ABC’s comedy pilot No Heroics as one of four B-list superheroes living in regular society. Most recently, you’ve seen Josh as a correspondent on The Daily Show. Josh has many film credits, including The Rocker, Crossing Over, and 21. He’s also appeared on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning role of William Barfeé in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

DAN JOHNSON attended Independence Truman High School in Missouri, where he was the 2006 State HI champion, in addition to taking 4th place in HI at the NFL National Tournament that same year. Dan competed on the collegiate speech circuit for Western Kentucky University, where he was 3rd in the nation in DI and 5th in Poetry Interpretation at the National Forensics Association Tournament in 2008. Dan now attends The Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago, IL where he has been a part of productions such as Still Life with Iris and Macbeth. Dan also appeared in an episode of CBS’s The Ghost Whisperer in 2006.

NICK KANELLIS, of Iowa City West High School in Iowa, completed a three-generation legacy as the NFL Humorous Interpretation champion in 2002, following in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps – each of whom won National Championships in HI during their Junior year of high school. Nick went on to Northwestern University, where he was a member of the sketch comedy improv group Mee-Ow and the long form improv group The Titanic Players. Nick performed and co-directed Wrestlepocalypse, as well as performing with the Striking Viking Story Pirates - a non-profit children’s theatre company. Nick is now active in the improv group Statues of Liberty, which is scheduled to perform at the Tuesday Night Host Party.

JEN KOBER’s alma mater is Alfred M. Barbe High School in Louisiana, where she earned herself the title of National Champion in both 1990 and 1991 in Humorous Interp. Jen went on to study at The Theater School of DePaul University in Chicago, IL. Her original one-woman show, Sub City, won the Director’s Choice Award at The Kennedy Center Theatre Festival. Jen has studied with Second City and Improv Olympic and tours with her one-woman shows, Junk in My Trunk and My Big Fat Comedy Show. Jen has performed on HBO’s Comic Relief, TBS’ Up for Laughs and Jamie Kennedy’s comedy documentary Heckler. Jen is also scheduled to perform at the Tuesday night Host Party.

MARIA THAYER is an alum of Apple Valley High School in Minnesota, where she earned a State Championship in DI, as well as breaking to elimination rounds in DI at the 1994 National Tournament. Maria studied at Julliard and has gone on to a career in both theatre and film. Most recently, Maria starred in the film State of Play with costars Ben Affleck, Helen Mirren, and Russell Crowe. You’ve also seen Maria in her film credits, such as Accepted and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Maria has made several television series appearances on shows Will & Grace, 30 Rock, Strangers with Candy, Lipstick Jungle, Nip/Tuck, and The Colbert Report.

The tournament will feature Policy, Lincoln-Douglas and Public Forum debate. The Baker Trophy and the Dukes & Bailey Trophy will be awarded to the top ranked entry attending the tournament in the Policy and Lincoln-Douglas divisions, respectively. The top ranked team is determined by the formula used to calculate qualifiers to the tournament. If you have questions, please contact Tim Mahoney.

Tarsney reminded me that it’s been some time since I did an article on the community’s favorite debate awards. So, I turn it to you: which tournament(s) feature your favorite awards? Why?

Jay Rye, the director of the Montgomery Academy Forensics Team, agreed to be interviewed for the very first installment of this series.

FOUNDED: 1991
FOUNDER: Jay W. Rye III

PRESENT DIRECTOR: Jay W. Rye III
PAST AND PRESENT ASSISTANT COACHES: David Ball (1992-1999, LD and Extemp), Philip Sellers (2006 to present, Public Forum and Extemp), Mike Wascher (2002-2004, policy), and John McWilliams (2000 to present, Congress and interp events).

EVENTS: “We have had all events over the years, but currently we do all events except policy debate.”

How do you recruit new students at the beginning of each season?

We don’t recruit — the students join if they want.

What makes speech and debate at your program special?

We have a large team with a wide range of interests. We have the students who focus on forensics but we also have the point guard for the basketball team, the captain of the dance team, the lead in the school play, etc. With only 260 students in our entire high school, we boast a team of around 100 students.

Are there any recent accomplishments about which your team is particularly proud?

NFL Nationals in 2009 is the biggest thing. The team, and more importantly the parents of The Montgomery Academy, have fully supported our efforts to bring the NFL National Tournament to Alabama. I could not be more proud of what they are all doing!

STUDENT TESTIMONIAL: Rising senior Charles Cardinal explains, “I enjoy being on the Montgomery Academy team because nearly our entire high school takes the class, so it’s a great way to meet other students, especially for freshman. We also get to experience the glory of Mr. Rye. ”

RANDOM FACT: The motto of the team is “goo!” (”Yes,” says Rye, “I said goo!”)

PHOTOGRAPH: This picture depicts this year’s Alabama Forensic Educators Association state champions from the Montgomery Academy. From left to right they are Z Jones (State Champion in Original Oratory), Sam Hobbs (State Champion in Senate), Layne Marie Williams (State Champion in DI and Duo), Sophia Jones (State Champion in After-Dinner Speaking), Alex Katz (State Champion in Duo), Stephen Chambers (State Champion in Prose), and Hamilton Bloom (State Champion in J.V. Lincoln-Douglas Debate).

Many programs end the season with a special event: a meal, an awards ceremony, or a combination of thereof. Does your team have any special ways of ending the season? Does it confer any special honors or awards? Tell us!

The six finalists were selected from among a pool of sixty-nine District Student of the Year honorees, who were elected by their regional areas as the students who best embodied the tenets of the NFL’s Code of Honor.

These tenets are integrity, humility, leadership, service, and respect. A panel of highly respected coaches will select the National Student of the Year from among the six finalists, based on thirty-minute interviews at the National Tournament.

The finalists are (in alphabetical order, by last name):

Colorado Grande District: Danielle Camous — St. Mary’s High School (CO)
Georgia Northern Mountain District: Michael Robinson — Henry W. Grady High School (GA)
Gulf Coast District: Ali Raza — El Campo High School (TX)
Pennsylvania District: Marla Sacks — Greater Latrobe High School (PA)
Space City District: Nicholas Cugini — Cypress Ridge High School (TX)
Tarheel East District: Meredith Potter — Pinecrest High School (NC)

The individual District Students of the Year who are not among the six finalists are:

Capitol Valley: Allen Ding — Granite Bay High School (CA)
Carolina West: Megan Race — North Mecklenburg High School (NC)
Carver-Truman: Justin Letts — Neosho High School (MO)
Central Minnesota: Jane Olmstead-Rumse — Minneapolis South High School (MN)
Chesapeake: Ellen Noble — Walt Whitman High School (MD)
Deep South: Sam Hobbs — The Montgomery Academy (AL)
East Iowa: Katie Monson — Iowa City West High School (IA)
East Kansas: Mark Thomas — Shawnee Mission South High School (KS)
East Los Angeles: Sean Hernandez — Damien High School (CA)
East Oklahoma: Lyndsay Tabor — Muldrow High School OK)
Eastern Missouri: Kyle LaVelle — Rittenour High School (MO)
Florida Manatee: Max Solomon — University School (FL)
Florida Panther: Jake Nebel — Trinity Preparatory School (FL)
Florida Sunshine: Kylie Gardner — Sarasota High School (FL)
Georgia Southern Peach: Molly Munson — Starr’s Mill High School (GA)
Greater Illinois: Jessica Petrie — Belleville West High School (IL)
Hawaii: Shawn Russel Haoa Bode — Kamehameha High School (HI)
Heart of America: John Max Mikitish — Liberty Senior High School (MO)
Hole in the Wall: Thomas Powers — Cheyenne East High School (WY)
Hooiser Crossroads: Barrett Tenbarge — Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School (IN)
Hoosier Heartland: Bethany Hancock — Connersville High School (IN)
Illini: Jordan Frank — Downers Grove North High School (IL)
Inland Empire: Theora Renae Rice — Central Valley High School (WA)
Kansas Flint-Hills: Luke R. Brinker — Topeka High School (KS)
Kentucky: Jared Rehber — Danville High School (CA)
Idaho Gem of the Mountain: Tyler Hatch — Skyview High School (ID)
LBJ: Travis George — Aubrey High School (TX)
Maine: Neil Pomerleau — Edward Little High School (ME)
Louisiana: Ryan Dolin — Riverdale High School (LA)
Mississippi: Kristen Greer — Oak Grove High School (MS)
Montana: Lorelei N. Hallock — Hamiton High School (MT)
Nebraska: Mary Metz — Lincoln Southwest High School (NE)
Nebraska South: Jack Christie — Lincoln East High School (NE)
New England: Danny Blackman — Needham High School (MA)
New Jersey: Shireen Rudina — Ridge High School (NJ)
New York City: Harlan Downs-Tepper — Stuyvesant High School (NY)
New York State: Samantha Sanders — Byram Hills High School (NY)
New Mexico: Evan Arnet — Eldorado High School (NM)
North Dakota Roughrider: Eric Halvorson — West Fargo High School (ND)
North Oregon: Saraga Reddy — Tigard High School (OR)
Northern Illinois: Vishal Mehta — Schaumberg High School (IL)
Northern Lights: Bridgette Corson — Walker High School (MN)
Northern Ohio: Alex Draime — Howland High School (OH)
Northwest Indiana: Andrew Sanchez — Plymouth High School (IN)
Pittsburgh: Stacey Chen — North Allegheny High School (PA)
Rocky Mountain North: Michael Zehner, Moffat County High School (CO)
San Fran Bay: Christine Hu — James Logan High School (CA)
Show Me: Brittany Rymer — Lee’s Summit West High School (MO)
South Carolina: Ricky Pulley — Southside High School (SC)
Southern Wisconsin: Christopher Vosters — Brookfield East High School (WI)
Sundance: Margaret Hazuka — Juan Diego Catholic High School (UT)
Sunflower: Wennie Wang — Wichita East High School (KS)
Tall Cotton — Richard Mitchell Harris — Hereford High School (TX)
Three Trails — Kendall Kaut — Olathe North High School (KS)
UIL: Kelsey Camille Craig — Mexia High School (TX)
Utah Wasatch — Benson Richards — Davis High School (UT)
Virginia: Rory Squire — Madison County High School (VA)
West Kansas: Rachel A. Shannon — Hutchinson High School (KS)
West Oklahoma — Andrew Connery, Norman High School (OK)
West Texas — Brenda Reyes — Ysleta High School (TX)
Western Ohio — Dennis Johnson — Gahanna-Lincoln High School (OH)
Western Washington — Terry Rosenbaum, Thomas Jefferson High School (WA)
Wind River: Shelby Moore — Powell High School (WY)

We were able to meet some of the racers and the show’s biggest fans — some of whom noticed the old school Victory Briefs shirts that Andrew Garvin and I were sporting — and snap some pictures. Here are a couple.

Click here to download the National Tournament events calendar.

Click here to access the NFL National Tournament portal.

Karlyn and Ben are both juniors.

Karlyn is coached by Garreth Heidt and Mike Contillo; Ben is coached by Anjan Choudhury, Tanya Choudhury, Elyse Lyons, Todd Liipfert, and Stephanie Caravias.

LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE

DOUBLES
1159 Walt Whitman BL def. 1110
1064 vs. 1004
1006 vs. 1059
1145 vs. 1197
1162 Walt Whitman EN def. 1126
1070 vs. 1088
1178 vs. 1139
1180 def. 1122 Chaminade MB (Mike Bucaria)
1073 def. 1121 Chaminade HL (Harry Liberman)
1034 vs. 1071
1160 Walt Whitman PG def. Pocono Mountain ZP (Zak Pyzik)
1087 La Salle College WM def. 1024 Berkeley Carroll DS (Dylan Scher)
1143 Cary AF def. 1069
1152 vs. 1044
1089 vs. 1078
1148 Charlottesville EH def. 1041

OCTAS
1159 Walt Whitman BL def. 1180
1148 Charlottesville EH def. 1073
1064 vs. 1034
1143 Cary AF def. 1159
1089 vs. 1152
1145 vs. 1178
1088 La Salle College SJ over 1087 La Salle College WM (Will Marble)
1162 Walt Whitman EN over 1160 Walt Whitman PG (Perry Green)

QUARTERS
1159 Walt Whitman BL def. 1145
1143 Cary AF def. 1162 Walt Whitman EN (Ellen Noble)
1148 Charlottesville EH def. 1088 La Salle College SJ (Sean Janda)
1089 Perkiomen Valley KG def. 1034

SEMIS
1089 Perkiomen Valley KG def. 1148 Charlottesville EH (Elizabeth Hylton)
1159 Walt Whitman BL def. 1143 Cary AF (Andy Flook)

FINALS
1089 Perkiomen Valley KG def. 1159 Walt Whitman BL (Ben Lewis)

NCFL CHAMPION
1089 Perkiomen Valley KG (Karlyn Gorski)

“He spoke so quickly,” claimed CNN, “it was impossible to decipher his words, as listeners began to laugh and applaud.” Debaters, you be the judges. Click here to access a video featuring Wilder. (And check out the video of the “Fastest Talker” from That’s Incredible! in the comments!)

Davis was a major force in forensics; she was elected a Key Coach of the Barkley Forum for High Schools in 1997 and attained two diamonds in the National Forensic League. She was also a member of the Tennessee High School Speech and Drama League Hall of Fame.

The tournament calendar is part of the “Resources” section on the official NDCA web site.

Do you have a tournament to add? Post a comment right here, so Jon Cruz can add it!

Click here to listen to the interview. (Strossen’s comments on high school debate begin at about the forty-sixth minute.)

A list of next season’s district committees can be found by clicking here.

This is intended as a place for celebration, but also a place for networking; indeed, if you’re coming to New York, in addition to posting here, drop me a line so we can network about judging, coaching, and so on. (There are plenty of area programs looking for assistants!) I am sure coaches here and elsewhere would like to network as well.

The rounds will be streamed at online. The webcast is being sponsored by Debate Central, the University of Vermont, and the World Debate Institute.

The text of the letter follows. In addition to thanking the many people involved with the tournament and congratulating this year’s award recipients, Solt addresses the recent controversy over the absence of the traditional horse-themed trophies and the Internet issues at the hotel.

Solt’s letter follows:

Thanks and congratulations to all who attended the 2009 TOC. In all four divisions, the competition was excellent. We are especially pleased to see increasing support for the Student Congress and Public Forum divisions.

There are a number of people who I would particularly like to thank.

First, thanks to our tab room staff. Steve Mancuso, Dave Hingstman, Aaron Kall, and Bill Smelko managed the policy tab room. Dave Huston (with an able assist from Lexy Green) ran LD. Tim Averill directed the PFD tab room (with valuable help from Mike Gentile), and Adam Jacobi managed Student Congress tabulation with a little help from his friends (and his father). All performed magnificently in ensuring that the tournament was both fairly and efficiently managed.

Steve Mancuso was our liaison to the Joy of Tournaments. His efforts helped significantly in making registration and judge preference processes more efficient.

The TOC advisory committees continue to contribute invaluable insights.

Jeffrey Miller and his staff at the Georgia Forensics Daily helped to keep us all informed both about results and new arguments.

Special thanks and congratulations to Marie Dzuris. The long-time queen of the policy ballot table was a 2009 inductee into the TOC Coaches Hall of Fame.

My colleague, jon sharp, the other co-director of debate at UK, contributed in innumerable ways. In particular, jon was our contact person with the UK Office of Emergency Management and took a major role in our efforts to ensure that this year’s TOC was a healthy, as well as a competitively rigorous, event.

The Kentucky debaters also helped in numerous ways, taking time from their preparation for finals to help with registration, ballot collection, and the cleaning of buildings. I hope they know how much I appreciate their help!

Linda Barker, who most of you see only at registration, may be the most important person in this whole process. She certainly works harder than anyone in the pre-tournament period, devoting literally hundreds of hours to processing applications, at-larges and other administrative details.

Dr. Patterson, the tournament’s founder, was his usual gracious self in directing hospitality. “Long may you run!”

TOC 2010—TROPHIES AND ACCOMMODATIONS

The TOC is totally committed to providing high quality awards and accommodations that match the level of the tournament and its competitors.

In order to meet these objectives and based on popular demand, the TOC will return to horse trophies for elimination round and speaker awards in 2010. We have been duly sensitized to the importance of impressive trophies as an indicator of the TOC’s significance and as a way to communicate this significance to administrators.

Since our move to new awards proved so controversial this year, I want to comment briefly on its motives.

This was not a cost-driven decision. The costs of the trophies and the framed certificates were comparable, and the latter were considerably more labor-intensive.

The choice to change awards was basically an esthetic one. Those of us responsible for the decision simply thought the new awards were nicer than the old. We will, however, defer to the tastes of the high school debate community. (And Dr. Patterson, it should be noted, supported the horse trophies throughout.)

In one sense, I believe that the awards experiment was successful. The participant awards have been generally well-received, and we plan to retain them in future years, along with the more traditional trophies.

I also want to comment briefly on the issue of internet access. We are well aware that the access to the internet at the Holiday Inn North was intermittent and sub-optimal. The Holiday Inn North assures us that if we return in 2010, it will be substantially improved.

I also think that if we return, this year’s experience will significantly aid us in making more efficient use of their meeting room space. We will plan to use the larger ballroom areas for the later elimination rounds, and we can also hopefully eliminate the need to use bedrooms for octo-finals in policy.

We are also investigating alternative tournament hotels. The Radisson believed that they could make more money renting their rooms to Derby-goers this year, but we have some reason to think they may be reconsidering this decision. And there may be other options—though you should remember that the little event eighty miles down the road does impact on the price and availability of hotel space in Lexington the first weekend in May.

We very much appreciate your input and support as we attempt to make next year’s TOC an even better one.

Roger Solt
Co-Director of Debate
University of Kentucky

“Whether or not your students qualified to Nationals,” explains the National Forensic League, “you’re invited to take advantage of this opportunity. Coaches of qualifiers can still make their judging obligation in rotation with attending clinics.”

Visit the NFL coach clinic web site for more information.

His career spanned forty-eight years and included coaching at Pittsburgh Central Catholic High School, Calvert Hall College, La Salle College High School, and finally Delone Catholic High School. First elected to the NFL Board in 1978, Bro. Rene served in this leadership role for over thirty years.

The National Forensic League today released the following obituary:

Bro. Rene Sterner, FSC, legendary NFL coach and longtime member of the NFL Board of Directors, passed away Monday morning, May 11, 2009 due to health complications related to cancer. His legendary NFL career spanned 48 years and included coaching at Central Catholic High School, Pittsburgh, Calvert Hall College, La Salle College High School, and finally Delone Catholic High School. A highly respected leader in the forensics community, he served 30 years as a member of the NFL Board of Directors.

Bro Rene’s numerous accomplishments include: winning the TKA trophy (now the Bruno E. Jacob trophy) in 1972, the championship in Policy Debate at the 1980 Nationals, and election to the NFL Hall of Fame in 1987. Bro. Rene was first elected to the NFL Board in 1978 and served as an at-large elected member until 1986, when he was appointed as the school administrator presence on the board. One of his tasks was to present the case for listing the NFL National Tournament on the National Association of Secondary School Principals’ approved list of contests and activities. He hosted the NFL Nationals in Pittsburgh (1961, 1972) and in Philadelphia (2005), co-ran the Speech Tab Room in the late 70’s, chaired a variety of Board Committees for new events, chaired the search committee for the NFL Executive Director, conducted the Board’s election of officers, and ran and organized Extemp Commentary. He was a six-diamond coach.

Brother Rene took his role as a leader in the NFL very seriously. In a 2008 interview he explained: “My whole life has been in education. I think NFL presents opportunities in many ways what education is all about. To develop leadership skills in young people is perhaps what education is really about more than anything. Our future depends on the quality of the leaders and their ability to examine issues thoughtfully, carefully, and not be swayed too easily by words that are not always truthful, clear, or accurate.”

His Viewing and Mass of Christian Burial will be held at La Salle College High School on Friday evening, May 15th at 7:30pm.

Victor (Victory Briefs founder, Brentwood School coach, and 1989 Berkeley champion) and Tammy (1999 Stanford champion) beat out the competition in a worldwide chase to win a million dollars.

Aracelis Biel, Andrew Garvin, Josh Stephens, Joe Vaughan, and I were able to cheer on Team Jih (Jih Unit?) during the finale at TARcon XIV. (It was dark in the room, so I’ll forgive Aracelis for cutting off my face and Andrew’s face.)

100% of the proceeds — more than $3,500! — went to the BAUDL. All judges donated their time.

Adron is coached by Stephen Hess and Barbara Bryan; Viveka is coached by Sean Mumper.

HOGE, FENTON, JONES, AND APPEL SEMIFINALISTS
Lynbrook VJ def. Mountain View RP (Ruchita Pendse)
(Crosson, Cheng, Lawrence)
Los Altos AM def. Lynbrook VG (Virup Gubba)
(Jain, Loofbourrow, Swenson)

FINALS
Los Altos AM def. Lynbrook VJ (Viveka Jagadeesan)
3-2 (*Crosson, Cheng, *Swenson, Loofbourrow, Arid)

CHAMPION
Los Altos AM (Adron Mason)

—
TESLA MOTORS TOP SPEAKER AWARD
Viveka Jagadeesan — Lynbrook High School (CA)

—
SEALS/JOHNSON MOST PREFERRED CRITIC
Natalie Pei

—
BAUDL SPIRIT AWARD
Ruchita Pendse — Mountain View High School (CA)

Tournament of Champions 2009 LD Prelim: Paul Tyger v. David McNeil from Victory Briefs on Vimeo.

Tournament of Champions 2009: LD Prelim - Nadel v Theis from Victory Briefs on Vimeo.

Tournament of Champions 2009: LD Prelim - McNeil v Brown from Victory Briefs on Vimeo.

LOS ANGELES, Cali. — A video from the 2009 Tournament of Champions LD semifinal round featuring Trinity Preparatory School’s Jake Nebel and Apple Valley High School’s Chris Theis from Victory Briefs is available on Vimeo.

Even though this video is embedded in the front page, we strongly recommend clicking the title so you do not have to deal with the scrolling featured stories.

LIVE FROM THE BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS

JW Patterson has entered the room.

Jim Shapiro of Berkeley Carroll has kindly loaned me his Verizon wireless card so I can get online, MacBook-style.

I am sitting with the Bronx Science crew. We are in the front. As is traditional, members of the TOC Hall of Fame, other honorees, and tournament staff members are sitting on the elevated stage in front of the crowd. Sitting in front of us, from left to right, are Aaron Timmons, J. Scott Wunn, Dave Huston, Eric Di Michele, Pam Cady Wycoff, Adam Jacobi, David Hingstman, Jon Cowperthwait, Ted Belch, Alex Pritchard, and Marie Dzuris.

“Good morning!” — JW

The crowd is quieting down.

JW is recounting the history of the TOC. There is awkward music in the background, but we’re tuning it out.

The music got louder…but then shut off. Thank you.

Pam Cady Wycoff is now introducing her fellow present members of the TOC Hall of Fame: Alex Pritchard, Ted Belch, Jon Cowperthwait, Eric Di Michele, Dave Huston, and Aaron Timmons.

Pam just noted that Eric Di Michele has just been announced as a member of the National Forensic League Hall of Fame — congratulations, Eric!!

And now JW is introducing Marie Dzuris, who represents the Hall of Distinguished Service.

Marie just congratulated Eric as well. (Indeed a very well-deserved induction!) She is also recognizing the University of Kentucky’s very own JW Patterson, Roger Solt, and jon sharp.

Marie is thanking the tabulation staff directors: Dave Huston in LD (”he switched sides!”), Adam Jacobi in Congressional Debate, Tim Averill in PF, and David Hingstman, Steve Mancuso, and Aaron Kall in policy.

J. Scott Wunn — the man with the most intense voice in debate (sorry, Tim Sheaff!) — brings greetings on behalf of the National Forensic League.

Here to introduce this year’s keynote speaker — the one — the only — BILL SMELKO!

Last year’s keynote speaker was the incredibly wise, energetic, and insightful Tom Rollins.

This year’s keynote speaker debated policy at the TOC…won the 1985 NDT…he debated for Harvard University…graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School…argued twice before the Supreme Court of the United States of America…is the father of Emily Massey from Walt Whitman High School…is scheduled to judge the final round of Lincoln-Douglas debate…

Jonathan Massey!

(A bit of gossip: Jonathan was also just introduced as the new assistant policy coach at Walt Whitman High School — a truly full-service program!)

He is starting with a roadmap — T — an off-case — and then case.

T — as in TOC… (Oy! We love you, Jonathan!)

O — “that was really a K”

C — Two contentions. “They contradict.” The first is that debate hasn’t really changed. The second is that it has.

I believe Jim Shapiro is recording the speech. Thank you, Jim!

Jonathan is giving a shout out to those who promote diversity in debate: National Forensic League, Perspectives Debate Inc. (and Ali Huberlie in particular), Emory University, the National Association for Urban Debate Leagues.

What an amazing speech!!

JW Patterson just recognized another figure involved in promoted diversity in debate: Lenny Gale from Dartmouth College.

A special presentation: JW says, from “the oldest living thing in this tournament other than I” — to present this award, Ted Belch!

This year’s Hall of Fame inductee — for coaching success, for teaching, for longevity at the TOC — Marie Dzuris! CONGRATULATIONS!!! So very, very well deserved!

The student awards…

“We begin with the Julia Burke Award.” Julia’s mother couldn’t be here, but Jon Cowperthwait — College Prep ‘00 — is here to present the award to the senior “who achieves competitive excellence in high school policy debate on the national circuit, and who demonstrates goodness of heart despite the pressures of competition at the highest level.”

This year’s recipient is…Bishop Guertin’s Katryna Cadle! CONGRATULATIONS! Katryna is an amazingly humble, kind, and gracious competitor. This award is so very well deserved.

TO ANNOUNCE THE “SUPER CONGRESSMEN” — Adam J. Jacobi of the National Forensic League, the tabulation director for Congressional Debate. There will be twelve.

ONE CLAP!!!

I will correct the spelling later. :o) These are coming out quickly.

NON-ADVANCING SEMIFINALISTS….

St. Joseph’s — Fred Duritis
Jonathan Fried
Nova — Stefan Leon
Walt Whitman — Michael Lobau
Sarah Crosco
Drew Framadan
Jacob Diltson
Berkeley Carroll — Emily Graham
Alex Heine
Neil Malati
Roland Schaffer
Shaina Scala

Trinity Prep - Jeffrey Bloch
Southlake Carroll - Brian Campagnala
RObert Kernel
Sebastian Deluca
Michael Durosa
Stuyvesant — Karlin Dalaskepper
Ray Escobar
Jody Foster
Zoul Capadia
X
Ridge — Alex Smit
Nova — Ana Stelota

HERE TO PRESENT AWARDS IN PUBLIC FORUM DEBATE — tabulation director Tim Averill!

The octafinals occurred last night, so the results are already up.

JW just gave me the shoutout. “Jon will put this news in his newspaper!”

HERE TO PRESENT AWARDS IN LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE — tabulation director Dave Huston!

Dave Huston is here to announce that the hotel is serving spaghetti and meatballs for lunch!

He is also recognizing the TOC Advisory Committee, and especially Lexy Green for her service in the tab room.

Now on with the awards.

TOP SPEAKERS
20. Ryan Bennett
19. Cameron Baghai
18. Alan Tong
17. Josh Roberts
16. Daniel Khalessi
15. J.P. Gooderham
14. Francesca Parente
13. Ben Lewis
12. Matt Dunay (”Matt Deny”)
11. Ken Hershey
10. Tyler Cook
9. David McNeil
8. Jordan LaMothe
7. Devin Race
6. Danielle Smogard
5. Daniel Garber
4. Daniel Moerner
3. Paul Tyger
2. Chris Theis

AND

RECEIVING THE WALTER ALAN ULRICH AWARD

Trinity Prep’s JAKE NEBEL!

JW tells folks to stay in the room. “As Kenny Rogers would say, there’ll be plenty of time for prepping when the dealing’s done.”

On a 6-1 decision, Chris defeated Daniel to defend his title. Chris is the first-ever repeat TOC champion in Lincoln-Douglas debate. Congratulations to both for reaching finals in a year that featured what may well be the strongest senior class in history.

Chris is coached by Pam Cady Wycoff, Cherian Koshy, and Tim Hogan; Daniel is coached by Eric Palmer, Stephen Hess, and Alex Smith.

The judges in the final round were Neil Conrad, Jon Cruz, Lexy Green, Ali Huberlie, Jonathan Massey, Tom Rollins, and Aaron Timmons. Huberlie dissented.

The recipient of this year’s Walter Alan Ulrich Award — recognizing the top speaker at the TOC — was Jake Nebel of Trinity Preparatory School.

LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE

(18) Salado TC (Tyler Cook)

RUN-OFF ROUND
(17) Scarsdale MM def. (16) Mountain View NP (Natalee Pei)
2-1 (*Tim Case, Ryan Lawrence, Elyse Lyons)

OCTAS (SWEET SIXTEEN)
(16) Scarsdale MM def. (1) Greenhill DS (Danielle Smogard)
2-1 (Anjan Choudhury, Prashant Rai, *Tim Case)
(2) Trinity Prep JN def. (15) Edina BH (Ben Holguin)
3-0 (Ali Huberlie, Peter D. Van Elswyk, Liz Vieira)
(3) Strake Jesuit PT def. (14) Saint Louis Park CT (Catherine Tarsney)
3-0 (Tom Evnen, Petey Gil-Montllor, Kris Wright)
(4) Los Altos DM def. (13) Valley RB (Ross Brown)
3-0 (Ari Parker, Julian Switala, Adam Nelson)
(5) Meadows JL def. (12) Walt Whitman BL (Ben Lewis)
3-0 (Sam Duby, Cherian Koshy, Stephen Hess)
(6) Apple Valley CT def. (11) Upper Saint Clair JG (J.P. Gooderham)
3-0 (Dan Meyers, Patrick Diehl, George Clemens)
(7) Mountain View DG def. (10) Bronx Science MD (Matt Dunay)
2-1 (Tim Hogan, *Christian Tarsney, Matt Wilson)
(8) Westlake DR def. (9) Scarsdale KH (Ken Hershey)
2-1 (*Neil Conrad, Gary Johnson, Ernie Rose)

QUARTERS
(8) Westlake DR def. (16) Scarsdale MM (Marcus Moretti)
2-1 (Ernie Rose, Neil Conrad, *Petey Gil-Montllor)
(2) Trinity Prep JN def. (7) Mountain View DG (Daniel Garber)
2-1 (Tim Case, *Ali Huberlie, Matt Wilson)
(6) Apple Valley CT def. (3) Strake Jesuit PT (Paul Tyger)
2-1 (Jon Cruz, Anjan Choudhury, *Stephen Babb)
(4) Los Altos DM def. (5) Meadows JL (Jordan Lamothe)
2-1 (Ari Parker, Julian Switala, *Tim Hogan)

SEMIS
(4) Los Altos DM def. (8) Westlake DR (Devin Race)
3-0 (Ali Huberlie, Julian Switala, Ernie Rose)
(6) Apple Valley CT def. (2) Trinity Prep JN (Jake Nebel)
2-1 (Matt Wilson, *Stephen Babb, Dan Meyers)

FINALS
(6) Apple Valley CT def. (4) Los Altos DM (Daniel Moerner)
6-1 (Neil Conrad, Jon Cruz, Lexy Green, *Ali Huberlie, Jonathan Massey, Tom Rollins, Aaron Timmons)

TOC CHAMPION
(6) Apple Valley CT (Chris Theis)

—
TOP SPEAKERS
1. Jake Nebel — Trinity Preparatory School (FL) [Walter Alan Ulrich Award]
2. Chris Theis — Apple Valley High School (MN)
3. Paul Tyger — Strake Jesuit College Preparatory School (TX)
4. Daniel Moerner — Los Altos High School (CA)
5. Daniel Garber — Mountain View High School (CA)
6. Danielle Smogard — Greenhill School (TX)
7. Devin Race — Westlake High School (TX)
8. Jordan LaMothe — The Meadows School (NV)
9. David McNeil — Edina High School (MN)
10. Tyler Cook — Salado High School (TX)
11. Ken Hershey — Scarsdale High School (NY)
12. Matt Dunay — The Bronx High School of Science (NY)
13. Ben Lewis — Walt Whitman High School (MD)
14. Francesca Parente — Wayzata High School (MN)
15. J.P. Gooderham — Upper Saint Clair High School (PA)

POLICY DEBATE

Bellarmine RV - Will Rafey & Sagar Vijay
Bishop Guertin CP - Katryna Cadle & Chris Power
Bronx Science MB - Andrew Markoff & Regan Bozman
Colleyville Heritage MN - Andrew Murray & Alex Nasr
Damien QH - Reid Ehrlich Quinn & Sean Hernandez
Fullerton Union GS - Robin Gray & Sasha Sabherwal
Glenbrook North MS - Flynn Makuch & Victor Shao
Glenbrook South TD - Will Thibeau & Richard Day
Greenhill BL - Nupi Bhushan & Anna Litman
Jack C. Hays DS - Nathan DuPont & Natalie San Luis
Kinkaid KS - Layne Kirshon & Craig Smyser
Milton BL - Ken Bailey & Austin Layton
New Trier GS - Ross Gordon & Ira Slomski-Pritz
Notre Dame DP - Chris Duran & Quinn Powell
Pace AL - Jennifer Armstrong & Peyton Lee
Westminster JS - Rajesh Jegadeesh & Anshu Sathian
Woodward NP - Brittany Nehman & Matthew Pesce

PUBLIC FORUM DEBATE

OCTAS (THE SWEET SIXTEEN)
(1) Durham WP def. (16) McClintock SB (Veekas Shrivastava & Justin Bever)
3-0 (Matt Grauer, Christensen, Hamilton)
(15) Mountain Brook SG def. (2) New Trier GC (Joey Glickman & Zach Collins)
2-1 (Eric Di Michele, Ben Kearl, Rosenthal)
(3) Lake Highland MW def. (14) Walt Whitman FN (Itai Farhi & Tom Niblock)
2-1 (Fred Robertson, P. Harris, Berkowitz)
(4) Timber Creek WE def. (13) Ridge SB (Francis Suh & Alex Bai)
3-0 (Mike Wascher, Jim Miller, S. Waugh)
(5) New Trier EW def. (12) Walt Whitman WH (Benjamin Wolcott & Sarah Houston)
3-0 (Jonathan Peele, Joseph Gazzola, Carol Green)
(6) Walt Whitman ES def. (11) Regis PS (Jackson Popkin & Ryan Smith)
(Dean Rhoads, Schurevich, R. Schebel)
(10) Ransom Everglades BB def. (7) Ransom Everglades GF (Harrison Grussmark & Jordan Flanzraich)
2-1 (Did Actually Hold Debate)
(9) Harker HG def. (8) Regis GL (Joseph Gasperetti & James Lampariella)
2-1 (Caugherty, Cornwall, Jake Lewis)

QUARTERS
(9) Harker HG def. (1) Durham WP (Grace Wallack & Dede Pless)
(10) Ransom Everglades BB def. (15) Mountain Brook SG (William Schreiber & Amanda Claire Grayson)
(6) Walt Whitman ES def. (3) Lake Highland MW (Will Miller & Danny Welch)
(4) Timber Creek WE def. (5) New Trier GC (Joey Glickman & Zach Collins)

SEMIS
(9) Harker HG def. (4) Timber Creek WE (Kaitlyn Westerberg & Thaddeus Ewald)
(6) Walt Whitman ES def. (10) Ransom Everglades BB (Jose Bengochea & Charles Barr)

FINALS
(9) Harker HG def. (6) Walt Whitman ES (Alex Edelman & Aaron Schifrin)

TOC CHAMPIONS
(9) Harker HG (Kelsey Hilbrich & Kaavya Gowda) 3-2

CONGRESSIONAL DEBATE

FINALISTS
1. Joseph Perretta — Christopher Columbus High School (FL) [TOC Champion]
2. Robert Colonel — Winter Springs High School (FL)
3. Alex Smyk — Ridge High School (NJ)
4. Ray Escobar — St. Thomas Aquinas High School (FL)
5. Harlan Downs-Tepper — Stuyvesant High School (NY)
6. Bryan Campanello — Southlake Carroll High School (TX)
7. Sebastian DeLuca — Monte Vista High School (CA)
8. Michael DeRosa — American Heritage Plantation High School (FL)
9. Anna Tsiotsias — Nova High School (FL)
10. Geoffrey Block — Trinity Preparatory School (FL)
11. Jordan Foster — Boone County High School (KY)
12. Zul Kapadia — Loyola Academy (IL)

—
PRELIMS
LD Round 1
LD Round 2
LD Round 3
LD Round 4
LD Round 5
LD Round 6
LD Round 7

CX Round 1
CX Round 2
CX Round 3
CX Round 4
CX Round 5
CX Round 6
CX Round 7

The 2009 Lincoln Financial Group/NFL Lincoln-Douglas Debate National Tournament topic is “Resolved: Military conscription is unjust.”

The 2009 Public Forum Debate National Tournament topic is “Resolved: That the United States should normalize relations with Cuba.”

The extemp list can be found after the jump.

United States Extemp List:
1. Education and Issues of Youth
2. America: Challenges and Opportunities
3. The American War on International Terrorism
4. Science, Technology and the Environment
5. American Politics
6. Business and the Economy
7. U. S. Immigration Policy
8. Crime and Punishment
9. Issues facing States and Cities
10. American: Sports, Media and Pop Culture
11. The New President
12. Health and Welfare
13. National Defense and Homeland Security

International Extemp List:
1. Western and Eastern Europe
2. Russia
3. Africa
4. The World: Challenges and Opportunities
5. China, Taiwan, Japan, and the Koreas
6. US Foreign Policy: The Foreign Perspective
7. Central and South America
8. India, Pakistan and SE Asia
9. The Problem of International Terrorism
10. The World Economy
11. Science, Technology and the Environment
12. Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean
13. The Middle East

Barker’s message:

According to the UK’s Office of Emergency Management, “there are no known cases of swine flu in the state of Kentucky.”

Information regarding swine flu for the University of Kentucky can be found at http://www.uky.edu/EM/swineflu.htm

Information from the Lexington Fayette County Health Department can be found at: http://www.lexingtonhealthdepartment.org

The Lexington Fayette County Health Department also notes: “For questions or concerns related to the swine flu please call our hotline at 859-288-7529. The health department has set up a special swine flu clinic, and if necessary patients will be directed to this site.”

For general information about the illness, the Center for Disease Control seems to be the best bet: http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu

Though they are taking some precautions, state officials are saying that it is safe to attend the Kentucky Derby. Around 300,000 people are expected to be in attendance.

Without exaggerating the threat, we would suggest a few prudent precautions.

1. Make sure you have valid medical consent forms for all students. I have attached a sample form, forwarded to us by Bill Smelko.

2. Frequent washing of hand with soap and hot water is universally recommended. The CDC also notes: “When soap and water are not available, alcohol-based disposable hand wipes or gel sanitizers may be used. You can find them in most supermarkets and drugstores. If using gel, rub your hands until the gel is dry. The gel doesn’t need water to work; the alcohol in it kills the germs on your hands.” We will attempt to insure that bathrooms are well stocked and that hand cleaning agents are available at the ballot tables.

3. Try to be more sanitary than debaters usually are—for example, avoid sharing bottled water.

4. Don’t debate if you are really sick, and avoid others if you have flu symptoms.

5. Be prepared to seek emergency attention if you become seriously ill. Dr. Adewale Troutman, Director of Louisville’s Department of Public Health and Wellness recommends that “if somebody has difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, pain or pressure in their chest or abdomen, sudden dizziness or confusion, that person needs immediate treatment.”

6. For at least one weekend, we recommend dispensing with the courteous convention of shaking hands after rounds.

7. If you are currently experiencing flu-like symptoms, do not attend the tournament or travel to Kentucky.

Coverage will include round-by-round pairings and live commentary from the Breakfast of Champions on Monday morning.

The countdown to the crowning of this year’s TOC champion has begun. Please join me in wishing the very best of luck to all seventy-five competitors in the field.

As part of our TOC countdown, Time Machine returns today with the results from the TOC of twenty years ago. The complete field for the 1989 TOC is forthcoming, but the field reports for 1987, 1988, 1992, 1993 and 1994 TOCs are online. (As part of my ongoing project of insuring an institutional memory for Lincoln-Douglas debate, I have been carefully organizing, transcribing, and digitizing materials I have found in the Chellgren Center Debate Office at the University of Kentucky.)

David was coached by Eric Di Michele; Amy was coached by Patricia Bailey.

(17) Milton AR (Adam Rothman)

OCTAS
(1) Regis DK def. (16) Terry Parker MH (Michael Heaney)
(2) Homewood AM def. (15) Mountain Brook MS (Michael Schwartz)
(3) Homewood AF def. (14) Palm Beach TR (Thaddeus Ryan)
(4) Miami Beach LM def. (13) West Lafayette CP (Chris Parente)
(12) Regis TM def. (5) Mountain Brook MK (Michael Klyce)
(6) Isidore Newman HO def. (11) West Lafayette EG (Eli Garfinkel)
(10) Killian MG def. (7) Syosset DF (David Friedman)
(8) St. John’s TC def. (9) Stuyvesant JS (Jeremi Suri)

QUARTERS
(1) Regis DK def. (8) St. John’s TC (Ted Calabia)
(10) Killian MG def. (2) Homewood AM (Anoop Mishra)
(3) Homewood AF def. (6) Isidore Newman HO (Hari Osofsky)
(4) Miami Beach LM def. (12) Regis TM (Tom McGeveran)

SEMIS
(1) Regis DK def. (4) Miami Beach LM (Lisa Nass)
(3) Homewood AF def. (10) Killian MG (Marisa Aya Gruber)

FINALS
(1) Regis DK def. (3) Homewood AF (Amy Forsee)

TOC CHAMPION
(1) Regis DK (David Kennedy)

—
TOP SPEAKERS
1. David Kennedy — Regis High School (NY)
2. Lisa Mass — Miami Beach High School (FL)
3. Anoop Mishra — Homewood High School (AL)
4. Chris Parente — West Lafayette High School (LA)
5. Michael Klyce — Mountain Brook High School (AL)
6. Thaddeus Ryan — Palm Beach High School (FL)
7. Hari Osofsky — Isidore Newman School (LA)
8. David Friedman — Syosset High School (NY)
9. Michael Schwartz — Mountain Brook High School (AL)
10. Amy Forsee — Homewood High School (AL)

The number next to each judge’s name indicates the round commitment for said judge.

Nathan Abell Austin SFA High School 4
Josh Aguilar Salado High School 4
Stephen Babb The Archer School for Girls 4
Anthony Berryhill Arthur L. Johnson HS 4
Mike Bietz Harvard Westlake Upper School 2
Tim Case Upper St. Clair High School 2
Chris Castillo Strake Jesuit College Preparatory 2
Chris Catterton Lake Highland Preparatory 0
Mira Chernick Bronx Science 7
Anjan Choudhury Walt Whitman High School 2
George Clemens Lake Highland Preparatory 4
Neil Conrad Greenhill School 2
William Cooper Arthur L. Johnson HS 2
Wes Craven South Eugene 4
Jon Cruz Bronx Science 2
Patrick Diehl Scarsdale High School 7
Seamus Donovan Northland Christian School 2
Samuel Duby Northland Christian School 2
Tom Evnen Hockaday School 2
Kyle Fleeger Desert Vista High School 7
Charlie Furman Ridge High School 4
Jake Gelfand Edina High School 7
Petey Gil Trinity Preparatory School 4
Ryan Graham Anderson High School 4
Paul Gravley Crowley High School 2
Ian Gunn Jesuit High School 2
Caitlin Halpern Stuyvesant HS 4
Stephen Hess Mountain View High School 5
Tim Hogan Apple Valley High School 2
Ali Huberlie Upper St. Clair High School 2
Gary Johnson Strake Jesuit College Preparatory 2
Cherian Koshy Apple Valley High School 2
Scott Koslow West Des Moines Valley 4
Ryan Lawrence Oak Mountain High School 4
Elyse Lyons Walt Whitman High School 2
Michael Mangus Bronx Science 5
Jeff Martin Lynbrook High School 7
Jonathan Massey Walt Whitman High School 4
David McGinnis West Des Moines Valley 2
Eric Melin Southlake Carroll 4
Dan Meyers The Meadows School 4
Greg Miaskiewicz Millburn High School 4
Mike Mundt Crowley High School 2
Adam Nelson The Meadows School 7
Brad Noethe Walt Whitman High School 7
Shane O’Neal Winston Churchill HS 4
Quinn Olivarez Berkeley Carroll School 4
Chris Palmer Scarsdale High School 7
Eric Palmer Los Altos High School 5
Ari Parker Glenbrook North High School 2
Ashan Peiris Loyola High School 6
Kyle Plumley Corona del Sol High School 4
Prashant Rai Mountain View High School 7
Jeff Roberts Mountain Brook High School 5
Kevin Roberts Northland Christian School 2
Ernie Rose West Des Moines Valley 6
Mike Roytman Glenbrook North High School 2
John Scoggin Loyola High School 2
Noel Selegzi Hunter College High School 4
Alex Smith Mountain View High School 7
Travis Smith Jesuit High School 4
Shane Stafford The Blake School 4
Julian Switala Edina High School 7
Christian Tarsney St. Louis Park High School 4
Aaron Timmons Greenhill School 2
Peter Van Elswyk Harvard Westlake Upper School 7
Joe Vaughan Scarsdale High School 7
Liz Vieira Lakeville South High School 5
Andy Werner Hockaday School 2
Matt Wilson Pace Academy 4
David Wolfish Greenhill School 6
Kris Wright Westlake High School 7
Pam Wycoff Apple Valley High School 3
Angela Zhu Perkiomen Valley High School 4
James Zucker Loyola High School 7

100% of the proceeds go to the BAUDL. All judges have donated their time. BAUDL’s executive director is Blake Johnson, a former Oklahoma state Lincoln-Douglas debate champion and a past college policy debate star. The BAUDL was founded in September 2008 and has brought debate to over one hundred competitors in ten high schools in the Oakland area; it is now expanding into San Francisco.

Sponsors include Tesla Motors, Crystal Instruments, Whole Foods, Cal Debate Institute, Letter Perfect, and Krefeld’s Awards.

Among the Paly debaters organizing the event are Chloe Chen, Anjali Ahuja, and Uma Veerappan. The tournament will consist of three pods of five debaters each, will feature four preliminary rounds, and will advance to the semifinals. Each preliminary debate will be judged by two critics.

LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE

College Preparatory School (CA) — Oliver Meister
College Preparatory School (CA) — Alexandra Willingham
Evergreen Valley High School (CA) — Apoorva Dharmadhikari
Los Altos High School (CA) — David Kay
Los Altos High School (CA) — Adron Mason
Lynbrook High School (CA) — Virup Gubba
Lynbrook High School (CA) — Viveka Jagadeesan
Menlo-Atherton High School (CA) — Jack Beckwith
Menlo-Atherton High School (CA) — Gavin Rea
Monta Vista High School (CA) — Michelle Jiang
Monta Vista High School (CA) — Angela Zhang
Mountain View High School (CA) — Ruchita Pendse
Palo Alto High School (CA) — Alex Carter
Presentation High School (CA) — Sonam Jindal
Presentation High School (CA) — Preethi Siva

LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE JUDGES

Blake Johnson
Tim Case
Barbara Bryan
Natalie Pei
Daniel Khalessi
Nick Bhardwaj
Ryan Lawrence
Sharmi Doshi
Sachin Jain
Ben Crosson
Daniel Sheehan
Katherine Brainard
Jennie Savage
Veronica Tapia
Sean Mumper
Narayan Subramanian
Ravi Sankar
Nadia Arid
Mandy Swenson
Diane Cheng
Wesley Loofbourrow
Alexander Stubbs
Lexy Green — TAB DIRECTOR

As of this time, over fifty tournament directors have submitted information for inclusion.

The format to utilize when submitting information can be found after the jump.

TOURNAMENT NAME
Dates
Location
Events offered
Director’s Name
Director’s Email
Website (if applicable)

In the AAA division — featuring the largest schools — defending champion Mark Harris of First Colonial High School (pictured) earned his third consecutive title by defeating Kasey Sease of Warwick High School. In the AA division, Charlottesville High School’s Elizabeth Hylton defeated Potomac Falls High School’s Samantha Strasser to win the state title. Finally, in the A division, Madison County High School’s Mary Margaret Petersen defeated Wilson Memorial High School’s Stephanie Painter to win the state title. Congratulations to all six debaters!

Mark is coached by James Godfrey; Kasey is coached by Deon Garner. Elizabeth is coached by J. Michael Evans; Samantha is coached by Lynne Damaty. Mary Margaret is coached by Donald Hitt; Stephanie is coached by Jay Singleton.

LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE

AAA State Champion — Mark Harris -– First Colonial High School (VA)
Second Place — Kasey Sease –- Warwick High School (VA)
Semifinalist — Mary Scott Hardaway –- Gloucester High School (VA)
Semifinalist –- Michael Jordan -– Warwick High School (VA)

AA State Champion — Elizabeth Hylton -– Charlottesville High School (VA)
Second Place — Samantha Strasser –- Potomac Falls High School (VA)
Semifinalist –- Kevin Yoon –- Blacksburg High School (VA)
Semifinalist –- Jennifer Lin –- York High School (VA)

A State Champion — Mary Margaret Petersen –- Madison County High School (VA)
Second Place -– Stephanie Painter –- Wilson Memorial High School (VA)
Semifinalist –- Lauren Halstead –- John S. Battle High School (VA)
Semifinalist -– Laura Trask –- Wilson Memorial High School (VA)

Please join me in wishing the happiest of birthdays to the most intense of debate coaches: Neil Conrad!

Just remember Neil: one more year.

By the way, In case you don’t know Neil personally, believe me: he’s really that intense. A former champion basketball player, Neil coaches between debate rounds the way one might coach between basketball games.

In the final round, Avi defeated Percia to take the state championship. Congratulations to both debaters!

Avi is coached by Jennie Savage, Daniel Sheehan, and Katherine Brainard; Percia is coached by David Matley and Adam Swaller.

After you post your thoughts about the tenth episode, I want to remind you to be sure to join Victor’s fan page on Facebook! Help us root on the founder of Victory Briefs and his sister!

AFEA State (AL) — Finals: Altamont’s Shawn Tuteja defeated Mountain Brook’s Carter Bielen.
CHSSA State (CA) — Awaiting Results
NYSFL State (NY) — Finals: Stuyvesant’s Georgia Stasinopoulos defeated Hunter College’s Alex Bores.
Perspectives RR — Finals: Scarsdale’s Nikita Lalwani defeated Millburn’s Tess McNulty on a 3-2 decision.
TFL State (NC) — Finals: Durham’s Josh Zoffer defeated Jack Britt’s Madelyn Powell on a 3-0 decision.
VHSL (VA) AAA Finals: First Colonial’s Mark Harris defeated Warwick’s Kasey Sease. AA Finals: Charlottesville’s Elizabeth Hylton defeated Potomac Falls’s Samantha Strasser. A Finals: Madison County’s Mary Margaret Peterson defeated Wilson Memorial’s Stephanie Painter.
Voices of Philadelphia — Finals: Bodine’s Jalon Alexander defeated Bodine’s Melanie Young. Novice Finals: Science Leadership’s Jeff Kessler defeated Shaw’s Michael Watson

Do you have college news to share? Please share it!