This past weekend, the Speech and Debate Team competed at a UNT tournament, firmly establishing their reputation as a team to be reckoned with. Many debaters placed among the top five and advanced to quarter and semi-finals.
“I was even surprised by some of the results he had,” Coach Michael Bolen said. “Because this was the first tournament we had with the new November topics, we didn’t know whether our arguments will actually work, and it’s encouraging to see that they did.”
There is still room for improvement, according to Bolen.
“ We want to build upon our success to try to get everyone on the team place in every tournament,” he said.
The debate team is also preparing for spring tournaments. They hope to win State championships in UIL and Texas Forensic Association (TFA) and reach nationals in the National Forensic League (NFL).
Amid this success, sophomore Mubarrat Choudhury looks forward to the rest of the year.
“We all have our ups and downs, and being in debate for a second year, I know our team will be progressively be successful as we gain experience,” Choudhury said.
Here are the results from the UNT tournament:
Berry Toler-1st in Extemporaneous Speaking and a Texas Association State tournament qualification. Also qualified for State in Congress.
Precious Osuchukwu- 5th in Extemporaneous Speaking
Toler and Osuchukwu- 2nd in Public Forum Debate
Prescott Osuchukwu-3rd in Lincoln Douglas Debate and TFA State qualification
Sam Nohra-Quarterfinals in LD Debate
Avi Garcia-4th in Extemporaneous Speaking
Christine Kim-semifinalist in both Prose Interpretation and Poetry Interpretation
Novice LD Debate Quarterfinalists: Miguel Sanchez, Mahir Kaheri & Jacob Redmon