Newman Speech and Debate Team Earns Most State Tournament Qualifications in Over 20 Years

Just as athletic teams look forward to playoffs so they can measure themselves against larger state and regional powers, so too does Newman’s Speech and Debate Team. The team just finished its last regular-season event, in which several debaters won first place in their events and qualified for the state tournament. The team had a great year under the guidance of coaches Greg Malis and Alma Nicholson. A table in coach Nicholson’s room groans under the weight of the team’s accumulated awards. Read on for the coaches’ account of the last competition and an outlook on the post-season’s remaining events.

 

The Speech and Debate Team competed at Christ Episcopal School this past weekend in the last regular season tournament. It was the final opportunity to qualify for the State Tournament. Virtually all of our entries consisted of students who were looking to qualify in at least one event. All 10 participants advanced to the elimination rounds in at least one event.  More specifically, we enjoyed the following results:

 

Shuzheng Zheng ’17 – Senior Extemporaneous Speaking

Liam Whalen ’17– Senior Extemporaneous Speaking

 

Kevin Qi ’19 – Junior Extemporaneous Speaking

Lily Schaefer ’19 – 5th place – Humorous Interpretation

Emmy Pilant ’19 – 5th place – Junior Extemporaneous Speaking

Abhi Jani ’18 – 5th place – Junior Impromptu Speaking

James Xiang ’17 – 5th place – Senior Impromptu Speaking

Kevin Qi ’19 – 4th place – Congressional Debate

Kevin Qi ’19 – 4th place – Junior Impromptu Speaking

Shuzheng Zheng ’17 – 4th place – Senior Extemporaneous Speaking

Nathaniel Kramer ’19 – 3rd place – Junior Extemporaneous Speaking.  Nathaniel is now qualified for the State Tournament.

Christy Mo ’17 – 2nd place – Senior Extemporaneous Speaking.  Christy is now qualified for the State Tournament.

Emmy Pilant ’19 – 1st place – Novice Lincoln Douglas Debate

Liam Whalen ’17 – 1st place – Congressional Debate.  Liam is now qualified for the State Tournament.

Laura Arenas ’18 – 1st place – Junior Impromptu Speaking.  Laura is now qualified for the State Tournament.

 

At the end of the year, 19 members of the team qualified for the State Tournament in at least one event, compiling a total of 47 individual qualifications. Both totals are the largest in over 20 years.  We have the largest number of qualifications of any school in the state in Lincoln Douglas Debate (8 students), Impromptu Speaking (10), and Extemporaneous Speaking (15).

 

We also have added to our long history with the National Forensic League and the National Speech and Debate Association. In the last 20 years, we proudly have displayed the membership certificates of every member dating back to 1978. This year, we added eight new members to the National Forensic League, the only speech and debate honor society for high school students in the US. This weekend, Lily Schaefer, the newest member, earned her Degree of Merit. In a few weeks, all eight will have their certificates on display in Lemle Hall.

 

Our post-season consists of three highly competitive tournaments in a span of four weeks. The schedule is as follows:

March 9 – City Championship in Congressional Debate – Cabrini High School

March 11-12 – City Championship in all other events – Holy Cross School

March 18-19 – Louisiana District Championship – Northwestern State University (the only opportunity to qualify for Nationals, to be held in June in Salt Lake City)

March 31-April 2 – State Tournament of Champions – Mount Carmel Academy

 

We look forward to the challenging events that remain on our schedule. Please join us in congratulating out Speech and Debate Team members for their diligence, persuasive oratory, and performance in this great debate season.