Spanish Springs Debate Tournament Results!

  • Speech & Debate
Spanish Springs Debate Tournament Results!
John Sloyan

Our team really left an impact tonight at Spanish Springs High School. Two of our teams made it to the final rounds, and we came away with a third place and a runner-up in a strong field.

Policy

Aryan Shukla ’20 and Kira Romberg ’22 were an unstoppable force as they won all their preliminary rounds and earned a place in finals of a crowded Policy field. In the finals, they faced a team that was only able to squeeze out a split decision because two of their judges, unfortunately, were new to the event. Nevertheless, it was a strong day for our Policy team, and a reminder to the league that SRS Policy debate will be a force to contend with this season. Congratulations!

Lincoln Douglas

Mason Togliatti ‘21, our LD captain, did a great job picking up a win in his first round of the day. His 102 speaker points carry on a streak of 100+ point tournaments. He was lauded for his “clever arguments and great improvising” and his “calm style.” Mason is gaining a lot of traction in his debate career and it will not be long until he is back in finals. Great job!

Ngoc Tran ’22 built momentum throughout the day, winning her final two rounds for a 2-2 finish on the day. Her 101 speaker points came from her “grounded logic” and “excellent use of evidence.” This is her second 2-2 tournament, and quite often that signals that a winning record is going to follow soon. Ngoc is rapidly finding her voice in debate. Awesome!

Public Forum

Cade Rombardo ’20 and Vidhi Pandit ’21 led the way for our Public Forum team at this tournament, and in the challenging Senior division were able to put up a strong 2-2 record. Their judges especially remarked on their confidence, and in one round they “showed more passion that made your opponents flustered.” Both debaters scored personal records on speaker points, and in one round, Cade earned a perfect 30/30. This was a great first outing for our team leaders. Great work!

Gil Patterson ‘22 teamed up with Carter Burns ’23 in Public Forum and posted a win in their second round. Although these two had not debated together before, they quickly figured out how to complement each other’s styles. Gil was acclaimed for his “wonderful summary speech” and the fact that he had “great answers in crossfire.” Carter completes his second tournament over the 100 speaker point line – well done! 

In only their second tournament, Richard Liu ‘23 and Kevin Lu ’23 posted a winning record in the preliminary rounds and qualified for the semifinals. They ended up hitting the eventual winners of the tournament in that round, but they gave them all they could handle as they lost in a 2-1 split decision. Richard’s 111 speaker points were especially impressive, and judges commented on Kevin’s “excellent rebuttals.” These two really surprised everyone and were the talk of the judges’ lounge. Excellent job!

 

 

SPECIAL THANKS to Assistant Debate Coach Gary Brown, who got the team started in the morning and represented the school as a judge for the first two rounds. Thank you!    

Next Up: November 15 & 16 at McQueen.  View the team schedule here: https://jdsloyan.weebly.com/debate-schedule.html

  • Speech and Debate