Chesterton Tribune

 

 

CHS Debate team plays host to debaters from two states

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The CHS debate team and its coaching staff are happy to conclude one of its busiest weeks of the year, but according to the director of forensics Chris Lowery, “it is always easier to put in the work when you see the kids having success at the end of the process.”

The CHS debate tournament is a behemoth at times. CHS was host to two states and over 300 entries competing with the backdrop of the most ambitious schedule of any tournament during the season. “Our tournament fits six full rounds in while a normal tournament only commits to four rounds,” said Lowery. This format makes the results much more predictive of postseason success than a typical tournament where one loss often-times can push a student down as far as fifth place.

Congressional debate typically involves debate on predetermined legislation. Chesterton is perhaps the only tournament in the country that involves a ‘scramble round.’ In this round, students are presented with an emergency session of congress to deal with a real-world scenario crisis. After having time to shift through an information packet, the contestants begin debate. Ethan Kroft continued a recent string of placings in novice Congressional debate, earning fifth overall in the event and third in his individual chamber. Savannah Hutchinson came in seventh overall and fourth in her chamber. John Petro was eighth in the varsity chamber of the event.

Lincoln-Douglas had three divisions with CHS students featured in all of them. Zachary Mullins led the varsity CHS members with third place, followed closely by Jonathan Sumita in fourth, and Elli Didonna in sixth. Each of the varsity members compiled a 4-2 record overall. At this tournament, individual speaker awards are given based upon their presentation proficiency during the round. Mullins was the runner-up in this category and Sumita was fifth. At the JV level, Elia Livovich (3rd), Kylie Brickley (4th), and Zoe Swanson (6th) all placed. Elijah Root had his highest placing of the year, after compiling a 5-1 record, he received third overall. He was followed by Nicholas Wells in fourth, another top individual performance for the year. Caroline Ausema (6th), Olivia Lee (8th), Nathan Osborn (9th), and Cesar Mondragon (10th) all had outstanding weekends. Osborn was the runner-up in the speaker category.

Policy debate features the unique aspect of debaters getting to challenge their opponent (rather than have it assigned by the tab staff). At the varsity level, the team of Ethan Dibble and Ryan Donovan were the highest placing CHS performers with a third place finish. Ben Hoham and Hattie Hoham came in fourth. Ben Hoham was the top speaker, Dibble was third, and Donovan was fifth. In the novice division, Milena Veltri and Mark Jewison came in third overall, while teammates Emma Bolinger and Sydney Baranko (5th), and Lilli Griffith and Brian Hansen (6th) also placed. Jewison was third in speaker awards and Veltri came in fifth.

Public Forum debate saw Grace Whah and Emily Krygoskec place sixth for the tournament. Salomae Minniear was the top speaker for Chesterton with an 8th place speaker award. At the novice level, Alexis Ioannidis and Sidney Pittman were runner’s up for the tournament, a personal record for the two, followed by the highest finish for Conner Mathas and Trinity Irving (3rd), and Sam Burris and Tim Wheeler (4th). Pittman (2nd), Wheeler (3rd), Burris (4th), and Ioannidis (5th) all received additional recognition in the speaker category. Alexander Szmutko and Halcyon Barton-Damsch came in fourth at the JV level.

 

 

Posted 12/14/2018

 
 
 
 

 

 

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