2006 Debate News

The College Prep Speech & Debate Team Makes a Quick Start in 2005/6

Members of the CPS Speech & Debate Team spent the first weekend of November separated by 2,000 miles, but they returned to Oakland with the same outstanding results.

Four College Prep Lincoln-Douglas debaters (Jay B., Amitha G., Kunal R., and Neal Y.) attended a competition at Apple Valley High School in Minnesota. In that competition, which is considered one of the toughest in the nation, the CPS debaters compiled a record of 17 wins and 11 losses in the preliminary rounds. Jay B. went on to win his next four elimination rounds, qualifying him for the final round. Ultimately, Jay earned 2nd place out of the 170 competitors at Apple Valley.

Meanwhile, across the country at the University of Southern California, six College Prep Policy Debate teams compiled a preliminary round record of 20 wins and 16 losses. Two of the six teams (Bon K. & Sandy Y. and Kailash S. & Karina P.) qualified for elimination rounds. Bon & Sandy placed 17th, while Kailash & Karina won their first four elimination rounds, qualifying them to debate in the final round. Kailash & Karina ended up earning second place out of the 86 teams entered at USC.

The College Prep Speech & Debate Team Makes a Quick Start in 2005/6

With less than a month of school behind us, the College Prep Speech & Debate Team already has three tournaments under its belt.  Seven team members (Jay B., Bon K., Karina P., Kunal R., Kailash S., Neal Y., and Sandy Y.) traveled to Texas on September 19 to attend a selective national invitational at the Greenhill School in Dallas.  On the following weekend, seventeen novice competitors attended their first competition, a Student Congress at Riordan High School in San Francisco.  Then, on September 30, eighteen team members piled on to a charter bus for a road trip to CSU Long Beach, and the Jack Howe Invitational.

In Texas, College Prep started the year well in Policy and Lincoln Douglas debate.  Policy debaters Kailash S. and Karina P. earned their first award of the year by qualifying for elimination rounds.  In Lincoln Douglas debate, Jay B. not only reached the elimination rounds, but also won his first elimination round, earning College Prep’s first TOC bid for the year.  The Tournament of Champions in Lexington, KY is the championship tournament for debaters who compete on the national circuit.  Debaters earn entry to the TOC by collecting bids at specified preliminary tournaments. 

The novice competitors had a great showing at Riordan on the following weekend.  Not only did everyone speak, but two novices returned to College Prep with awards.  Paul S. earned 4th place in his chamber, while Nicoletta C. placed 3rd.  This is especially impressive given that novice and varsity competitors are mixed together in Student Congress competition.

The Long Beach tournament was, as usual, both grueling and lots of fun.  In individual speaking events three competitors earned awards.  Allison C. placed 5th in Novice Oratorical Interpretation, Eunice K. placed 3rd in Novice Thematic Interpretation, and Scout K. placed 2nd in Varsity Thematic Interpretation.  In Varsity Policy Debate, College Prep cleared two teams to the octafinals—Sandy Y. & Bon K., and Kailash S. & Karina P..  Four elimination rounds later, at 11:45 PM, Kailash and Karina were named winners of the tournament, on a 3-0 decision.  By 12:15 AM we were on the road, and at 6:45 AM we rolled in to the College Prep parking lot.  After hitting the gym showers, team members went to class, where Jack Coakley reports that, “The kids looked sleepy but proud.”