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DEBATE PLACES AT STATE
On Jan. 13 and 14, varsity debate students ended the season placing at state. The four-speaker team placed second with debaters senior Aaron Persinger, senior Emma Hefty, senior Emma Stammeyer and junior Sophie Racy. The two-speaker team took third place with junior Connor Brown and senior Cici Hunter.
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At state, winners competed against multiple teams, whereas the opponents that lost the most rounds ended their season. The seniors who competed had no way of predicting when their last round of a tournament would be.
“The stress of [senior] students going into every round on a Saturday afternoon, knowing it could be their last one creates an emotional roller coaster that is difficult to navigate,” head coach Kelly Thompson said.
Although winter break interrupts the preparation time the team has together, the intense workload left most debaters who planned to compete at state dedicating around five hours outside of school per week towards debate work.
Debaters Racy and Brown agreed that support from coach Thompson carried them to state.
In conclusion, this debate season ends with an emotionally rewarding tournament. With the help from their coaches, students brought home another win.
While at state, the wide variety of judging pools added to the stressful atmosphere. The 4-speaker team was challenged by adjusting their strategy within a bigger group.
Throughout rounds, students’ goals were to switch their argumentative approach based on who was judging them.
“There was a lot more pressure because the way that me and my partner performed would heavily affect the way our other partners did,” Racy said.
Brown only competed in one previous tournament with his partner at state. It was challenging for him to alter his strategy for a new partner. As they figured how to work together, they continued to prepare over winter break.
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