Speech and Debate Shines at Virtual Tournament

On January 9, 2021, Upper School Speech and Debate members, coached by English and history teach Mr. Ian Gutgold '10, competed virtually at the Hunterdon Central Winter Invitational, a New Jersey-Pennsylvania state tournament. Despite the current circumstances, the team persevered and grew throughout months of preparation, and placed among the Eastern Pennsylvania league at the tournament.

Awardees include:

• Neha Skandan ‘21: Varsity Lincoln Douglas debate - 3rd place
• Okezue Bell ‘23 & Wisdom Ufondu ‘23: Varsity Public Forum debate - 2nd place
• Nabeel Rifai ‘23 & Michael Alchaer ‘23: Varsity Public Forum debate - 3rd place
• Samit Mohapatra ‘22 & Aarav Shyamkumar ‘22: Varsity Public Forum debate - 4th place
• Ginny Toso ‘24: Declamation - 4th place
• Sunny Chen ‘24: Junior Varsity Lincoln Douglas debate - 6th place overall

These students qualified for the Allentown Diocese Forensic League (ADFL) National Qualifiers Tournament on February 28, the regional tournament that qualifies students for the National Catholic Forensic League (NCFL) Grand Nationals Tournament over Memorial Day Weekend.

Best of luck to the speech and debate team as they continue their journey!