Big Honor, Big Win For Barstow Debate
It's a big week for Barstow's signature debate program. The team earned membership in a prestigious club and novice debaters led the way to a strong finish at the University Michigan online tournament Nov. 7-9.
Every Barstow novice U.S. Policy debate team advanced to elimination rounds in one of the season's most competitive tournaments to date. In the junior varsity division, sophomores Quinn Luce and Logan Mulligan advanced to octofinals, and seniors Phoebe Brous and Rishi Malay reached the double octofinal round in the varsity division.
Owen Snyder earned the second place speaker award out of 182 individual competitors. Six other freshman placed in the top thirty. Two novice teams, Ava Levin and Connor Lucido, and Cyrus Shaikh and Owen Snyder posted perfect 7-0 preliminary debate records. Other notable finished included:
Junior Varsity Speaker Award: Quinn Luce, 15th
Novice finishes:
Lia Adams & Liane Bdair, octofinals
Cyrus Shaikh & Owen Snyder, double octofinals
Nithin Guduputi & Sriram Pattabiraman, double octofinals
Matthew Gill & Sunny Gandhari, double octofinals
Novice Speaker Awards:
Connor Lucido, 9th
Ava Levin, 10th
Cyrus Shaikh, 16th
Lia Adams, 20th
Nithin Guduputi, 21st
Liane Bdair, 26th
Also this week, the school received notice that the Barstow debate program earned membership in the National Speech & Debate Association's 100 Club. Students earn points and degrees in NSDA's honor society based on competitive and service-related activities, ranging from the Degree of Merit with 25 or more points to the Degree of Premier Distinction with 1,500 or more points. These degrees contribute to a school's strength points. Barstow debate achieved more than 100 strength points last year.
"This milestone is remarkable because it demonstrates outstanding commitment to teaching students essential life skills—including communication, research, listening, writing and organization," NSDA Executive Director J. Scott Wunn wrote.
Back
Owen Snyder earned the second place speaker award out of 182 individual competitors. Six other freshman placed in the top thirty. Two novice teams, Ava Levin and Connor Lucido, and Cyrus Shaikh and Owen Snyder posted perfect 7-0 preliminary debate records. Other notable finished included:
Junior Varsity Speaker Award: Quinn Luce, 15th
Novice finishes:
Lia Adams & Liane Bdair, octofinals
Cyrus Shaikh & Owen Snyder, double octofinals
Nithin Guduputi & Sriram Pattabiraman, double octofinals
Matthew Gill & Sunny Gandhari, double octofinals
Novice Speaker Awards:
Connor Lucido, 9th
Ava Levin, 10th
Cyrus Shaikh, 16th
Lia Adams, 20th
Nithin Guduputi, 21st
Liane Bdair, 26th
Also this week, the school received notice that the Barstow debate program earned membership in the National Speech & Debate Association's 100 Club. Students earn points and degrees in NSDA's honor society based on competitive and service-related activities, ranging from the Degree of Merit with 25 or more points to the Degree of Premier Distinction with 1,500 or more points. These degrees contribute to a school's strength points. Barstow debate achieved more than 100 strength points last year.
"This milestone is remarkable because it demonstrates outstanding commitment to teaching students essential life skills—including communication, research, listening, writing and organization," NSDA Executive Director J. Scott Wunn wrote.
