SRS Speech & Debate Team: Debate Season has begun and they're bringing the heat!

Greetings, Debate Fans!

The Scorpion Debate Team kicked off the season in style on 18 September with 11 debaters representing all four grades! SRS posted a winning record by taking 18 out of 28 rounds – a very impressive start to the competitive season. 
 

Public Forum

Usually this event is split into novice and senior divisions, but this tournament collapsed them into one. This meant that 7 of our 8 PF debaters had to compete in their first high school tournament against older and more experienced opposition. But no matter! Our four teams earned 10 round wins and a third place finish.

Libby Mulvaney '23 teamed up with classmate Malina “Moe” Jeffery '23 and nearly made finals with a 3-1 record. Their judges commented on their “clear, strong arguments” and the fact that they “took the topic seriously” and were “well prepared.” Malina earned the team’s top speaker spot with 109 points. These two only missed finals by a hair and have a great chance to break in October. Awesome!

Nanki Sandhu '25 and Murat Alhan '24, who only had a few days to prepare for the tournament, surprised their competition and themselves by going 2-2 and getting great comments from their judges. Both of these debaters are hard workers, and with practice they will be a tough team to beat this season. Well done!  

Headlining the results in PF this tournament are Andrew Barth '25 and Caleb Mulvaney '25, who went a perfect 4-0 in prelims and lost on a split ballot in semifinals. Caleb survived a series of spontaneous nosebleeds and emerged from each round with strong speaker points. Andrew finished the tournament tied with Malina as our top PF speaker with 109 speaker points. Their judges noted how the two appeared to have a “greater understanding of current and past events” than their opponents. Great job!

Ethan “Bazooka Boy” Wu '24 and Chris Zhao '24 went 1-3 on Saturday, but improved with each round and gained a lot of confidence by the end of the day. Chris, whose background is in LD, performed very well as rebutter. Ethan is new to debate and put together his best performance in round 4. These two will make great strides this year and may very well be in finals before January. Nice going!

Lincoln Douglas

Dr. McGann, who has taken the reins of our LD program, has created a few monsters in her elective class this fall. She was on hand to see her LD crew win an impressive 7 rounds. In addition, one LD debater missed qualifying for finals by only the narrowest of margins.
 
Gil Patterson '22 is SRS’s current National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) point leader, and he added to his total Saturday by going 2-2 in only his second attempt at LD. His judges noted that he was both “respectful” and had “great confidence.” His day as a debater was a success, but equally important was the leadership he brought to the team. Thank you Gil!

Zoe Dixon '24 went 2-2 on the day and finished the tournament as SRS’s top LD speaker with 107 points. But most impressive was the way she represented our team. When one of her opponents revealed that she did not have a completed NEG case and wished to forfeit, Zoe offered her one of her own to enable her to finish the round. Zoe’s gesture became the talk of the tournament and made our school’s values clear to everyone. Well done!

Scarlett “Cruel Shoes” Lopiccolo '25 went 3-1 in prelims and narrowly missed breaking into finals. Her judges noted that she had “excellent research, a well written argument” and a “clear central issue stated clearly at the beginning of her speech.” Scarlett had a great start to her competitive career and is an odds-on favorite to break in October. Great work!

SPECIAL THANKS TO:

Murat’s father Ikbal Alkan, who supported the program as an SRS judge. Thank you!
Andrew’s mother Gina Barth, who kick started the team with doughnuts. We finished them all!
Richard Liu '23 and Faith Reed '25, who came by to watch a round and support the team. You rock!

Next Up: October 16 at Wooster.