News

Newman Speech & Debate 2023 State Champions

3/31/2023

E. Bomersback

Newman Speech & Debate Earn Recognition as the Overall 2023 State Champions!

Newman's state championship team is comprised of 37 members, competing across several events. Each student helped contribute to the team's overall placing. Some highlights from the 2023 State Tournament include:

4-way Co-Champions in Policy Debate
3-way Co-Champions in Lincoln Douglas Debate
Individual State Champions in Novice Extemporaneous Speaking & Varsity Impromptu Speaking
In Speech Events:

15 Finalists
16 Semifinalists

24 students in Debate Elimination Rounds
11 students in the Final Round of Congressional Debate

The full results are listed below. Congratulations to these students on placings in their individual event:

Policy Debate:

4 Newman Teams closed out Policy Debate in the semifinal round, and were recognized as co-state champions in Advanced Cross-Examination:

Co-State Champions:
Grace Carmody (’24) & Aria Jolly (’25)

Elizabeth Elliott (’23) & Hudson Nguyen (’25)

Caroline Carmody (’24) & Bryce Martin (’24)

Nick Rezza (’25) & Jackson Dirks (’26)

Advanced Lincoln Douglas Debate:

Three Newman Students helped close out the State Championship in Lincoln Douglas Debate in the semifinal round:

Co-State Champion- Andrew Brandt (’25)
Co-State Champion- Sam Rice (’24)

Co-State Champion- Owen Dodd (’24)
5^th Place & Quarterfinalist- Jack Laurent (’24)
5^th Place & Quarterfinalist -Morgan Breaux (’26)

Novice Lincoln Douglas Debate:

State Runner-Up – Aditi Shridhar (’26)

3^rd Place – Amar Walia (’25)

5^th Place- Cordell Crawford (’26)

Public Forum Debate

State Runner-Up – Maslen L’Esperance (’25) & Logan DeGruy (’26)

Tied for 3^rd Place – Isabella Lombard (’24) & Sylvie Wilson (’24)

Tied for 3^rd Place – Joseph Culotta (’24) & Nathan Xiang (’24)

5^th Place – Carolina Fontanez (’23) & Amaia Ottley (’23)

Congressional Debate:
Top 8:

2^nd Place – Andrew Brandt (’25)

3^rd Place – Aria Jolly (’25)

7^th Place – Elizabeth Elliott (’23)

Finalists:
Caroline Carmody (’24)

Owen Dodd (’24)

Isabella Lombard (’24)

Grace Carmody (’24)

Lexie Toshav (’26)

Amaia Ottley (’23)

Isabelle Plaisance (’23)

Carolina Fontanez (’23)

Declamation:

Semifinalist – Maslen L’Esperance (’25)

Novice Extemporaneous Speaking:
Finalists:

1^st Place – Jackson Dirks (’26)

5^th Place – Hudson Nguyen (’25)

6^th Place – Morgan Breaux (’26)

Semifinalists:
Sam Rice (’24)

Nick Rezza (’25)

Cordell Crawford (’26)

Christopher Connolly (’26)

Varsity Extemporaneous Speaking:
Finalists:

2^nd Place – Lexie Toshav (’26)

3^rd Place – Grace Carmody (’24)

4^th Place – Andrew Brandt (’25)

5^th Place – Elizabeth Elliott (’23)

6^th Place – Giovani Arenas (’24)

8^th Place – Isabella Lombard (’24)

Semifinalists:

Aria Jolly (’25)

Amaia Ottley (’23)

Owen Dodd (’24)

Carolina Fontanez (’23)

Novice Impromptu Speaking:
Finalists:

3rd Place – Jackson Dirks (’26)

6^th Place – Morgan Breaux (’26)

7^th Place – Logan DeGruy (’26)

Semifinalists:

Hudson Nguyen (’24)

Christopher Connolly (’26)

Sam Rice (’24)

Varsity Impromptu Speaking:

Finalists:

1^st Place – Elizabeth Elliott (’24)

4^th Place – Aria Jolly (’25)

Semifinalists:

Isabelle Plaisance (’23)

Colin Rills (’24)

Giovani Arenas (’24)

Grace Carmody (’24)

Aadhya Krishnan (’24)

Carolina Fontanez (’23)

Original Oratory:

5^th Place – Isabelle Plaisance (’23)

The following students received the designation of being members of the All-State Speech & Debate Team, by either placing in the Top 8 of Debate Events or by being in the final round of a Speech Event:

Elizabeth Elliott (’23) ***

Carolina Fontanez (’23)

Amaia Ottley (’23)

Isabelle Plaisance (’23)

Giovani Arenas (’24)

Caroline Carmody (’24)

Grace Carmody (’24) *

Joseph Culotta (’24)

Owen Dodd (’24)

Jack Laurent (’24)

Isabella Lombard (’24) *

Bryce Martin (’24)