Foundations — Grade 12 • Jackson, Mississippi
17 Saints Qualify for Grand National Debate Tourney
After two days of competition, St. Andrew’s competitors captured all four spots in Policy Debate, three of the four spots in Lincoln-Douglas Debate, and a handful of spots in other events, leading to a total of 17 students punching their ticket for our nation’s capital.
On the last weekend of February, the Speech and Debate team made the short trek to Germantown High School to compete at the Jackson Catholic Forensic League Diocesan Qualifier that determines which students go to the National Catholic Forensic League Grand Nationals in Washington, DC this Memorial Day Weekend. After two days of competition, St. Andrew’s competitors captured all four spots in Policy Debate, three of the four spots in Lincoln-Douglas Debate, and a handful of spots in other events, leading to a total of 17 students punching their ticket for our nation’s capital. St. Andrew’s competitors for NCFL Nationals are as follows:
- Policy Debate: Steve Jiang ‘20/Vinson Lu ’20, Arko Dhar ‘18/Faraaz Yousuf ’19, Austin Brown ‘21/Rand Raju ’21, and Forrest Hutchison ’21 and Anna Jaubert ’21
- Lincoln-Douglas Debate: Ishan Bhatt ’19, Bain McHale ’19, Clay Morris ‘19
- Congressional Debate: Trey Till ‘19
- Declamation: Kaleb Cassidy ’20, Sameer Khan ‘20
- Dramatic Performance: Horace McMillon ‘20
- Duo Interpretation: Jordan Simmons ‘20/Cymone West ’20 (Ann Louise Blackwood ’20 and Ellie Caraway ’20 also qualified but will not be able to attend due to a family commitment)
The following weekend, the team traveled up to Starkville to compete at the Mississippi State University Cowbell Classic, with seventeen competitors in attendance. Students placing in the competition were as follows:
- Policy Debate: Anna Jaubert ‘21/Hartmann Marble-Wright ’20 (1st place), Arko Dhar ‘18/Vinson Lu ’20 (semifinalist), Jack Brown ‘20/Rand Raju ’21 (quarterfinalist)
- Congressional Debate: James Xu ’19 (6th place)
- Declamation: Sameer Khan ’20 (1st place), Kaleb Cassidy ’20 (3rd place)
- Duo Interpretation: Jordan Simmons ‘20/Cymone West ’20 (4th place)
- Poetry Interpretation: Sameer Khan ’20 (1st place), Christian Wade ’18 (3rd place), Kaleb Cassidy ’20 (6th place)
- Program Oral Interpretation: Christian Wade ’18 (4th place)
- Prose Interpretation: Christian Wade ’18 (1st place), Sameer Khan ’20 (2nd place)
As a result, Sameer Khan was named the 2nd overall individual performer for the Cowbell Classic, while the team placed 3rd in Debate Sweepstakes and 2nd in Overall Sweepstakes for the tournament. This was the last invitational tournament for the squad. Now comes the District Qualifiers for the National Speech and Debate Association National Tournament, followed by the MHSAA State Championships.
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Foundations — Grade 12 • Jackson, Mississippi