Hendrickson/Pflugerville Swing on Aug. 31st and Sept. 1st
We had a fantastic first tournament! As a team, WHS Speech & Debate won a 2nd place Sweepstakes Award! This result would not have been possible without the immense success of each of our individuals and teams.
In Public Forum Debate, Novices Emiliano Castillo and Tian Dong won the final round of the Pflugerville side of the tournament - a feat that allowed them to move to the Varsity level at their first tournament as a team! Novices Emma Guan and Teresa Luo also won the final round of the Hendrickson side of the tournament. Varsity Senior Nicolas Ho and Sophomore Jason Luo won the Hendrickson side of the tournament and advanced to the quarterfinals on the Pflugerville side. Novice Freshmen Caroline Wehring and Allie Robinson advanced to the Finals at Pflugerville and the Quarterfinals at Hendrickson. Novice Freshman Jawad Bataineh and Novice Sophomore Frank Wei advanced to the Final round at Hendrickson and Quarterfinal at Pflugerville. Varsity Seniors Miles Sigel and Michael Dodgin advanced to the Final round at Pflugerville. Varsity Seniors Anisha Reddy and Yasmine Daghestani advanced to the Final round at Hendrickson. Senior Ali Slimi and Junior Miles Dintzner advanced to the Semifinal round of both sides of the swing.
In Lincoln Douglas Debate, Senior Andrew Lee advanced to the Semifinal round of the Hendrickson side of the tournament. Senior Amanda Chen advanced to the Quarterfinals of at Pflugerville.
In Individual Events, Junior Maddie Szoo placed 2nd in Original Oratory in both sides of the tournament, as well as 4th and 1st in Program Oral Interpretation in the Pflugerville and Hendrickson sides, respectively.
All in all we are are incredibly excited to have had such a great first tournament. Go Chaps!
In Public Forum Debate, Novices Emiliano Castillo and Tian Dong won the final round of the Pflugerville side of the tournament - a feat that allowed them to move to the Varsity level at their first tournament as a team! Novices Emma Guan and Teresa Luo also won the final round of the Hendrickson side of the tournament. Varsity Senior Nicolas Ho and Sophomore Jason Luo won the Hendrickson side of the tournament and advanced to the quarterfinals on the Pflugerville side. Novice Freshmen Caroline Wehring and Allie Robinson advanced to the Finals at Pflugerville and the Quarterfinals at Hendrickson. Novice Freshman Jawad Bataineh and Novice Sophomore Frank Wei advanced to the Final round at Hendrickson and Quarterfinal at Pflugerville. Varsity Seniors Miles Sigel and Michael Dodgin advanced to the Final round at Pflugerville. Varsity Seniors Anisha Reddy and Yasmine Daghestani advanced to the Final round at Hendrickson. Senior Ali Slimi and Junior Miles Dintzner advanced to the Semifinal round of both sides of the swing.
In Lincoln Douglas Debate, Senior Andrew Lee advanced to the Semifinal round of the Hendrickson side of the tournament. Senior Amanda Chen advanced to the Quarterfinals of at Pflugerville.
In Individual Events, Junior Maddie Szoo placed 2nd in Original Oratory in both sides of the tournament, as well as 4th and 1st in Program Oral Interpretation in the Pflugerville and Hendrickson sides, respectively.
All in all we are are incredibly excited to have had such a great first tournament. Go Chaps!
Grapevine Classic on Sept. 7 & 8
The team experienced success at the 30th Grapevine Classic! In Public Forum Debate, Senior Ali Slimi and Junior Miles Dintzner advanced to the semifinal round, earning a Tournament of Champions bid along the way. This is an incredible result for Ali and Miles, as Grapevine is one of the most competitive tournaments in Texas. In order to qualify for the TOC, Ali and Miles need one more bid.
Senior Nicolas Ho and Sophomore Jason Luo advanced to the octafinal round. Advancing to the bid round at their first opportunity of the year means that the rest of the PF world needs to look out for Westlake HL. Junior Preston Williams and Sophomore Xuechen Yin went 4-1 in preliminary rounds and advanced to the double-octafinal round. Preston and Xuechen compiled the best preliminary record on the team and this result is super solid.
Senior Nicolas Ho and Sophomore Jason Luo advanced to the octafinal round. Advancing to the bid round at their first opportunity of the year means that the rest of the PF world needs to look out for Westlake HL. Junior Preston Williams and Sophomore Xuechen Yin went 4-1 in preliminary rounds and advanced to the double-octafinal round. Preston and Xuechen compiled the best preliminary record on the team and this result is super solid.
Anderson Trojan Classic on Sept. 21 & 22
At the Anderson Trojan Classic, the Westlake Speech and Debate Team achieved success.
Junior Maddie Szoo won 1st in Original Oratory and 1st in Program Oral Interpretation. Maddie is now qualified for TFA State in both events,
In Public Forum Debate, Junior Preston Williams and Sophomore Xuechen Yin advanced to the quarterfinal round. Junior Andrew Lee and Sophomore Jason Luo also advanced to the quarterfinal round.
Junior Maddie Szoo won 1st in Original Oratory and 1st in Program Oral Interpretation. Maddie is now qualified for TFA State in both events,
In Public Forum Debate, Junior Preston Williams and Sophomore Xuechen Yin advanced to the quarterfinal round. Junior Andrew Lee and Sophomore Jason Luo also advanced to the quarterfinal round.
St. Marks Heart of Texas Invitational on October 12 & 13
At the St. Marks Heart of Texas Invitational, Junior Andrew Lee advanced to the Double Octafinal Round. At such a competitive tournament, this is a wonderful result for Andrew.
Austin High Capital City Classic on October 19 & 20
At the Austin High Capital City Classic, the Westlake Speech and Debate Team achieved more success.
Freshman Joy Wang won 3rd in Original Oratory.
Freshman Joy Wang won 3rd in Original Oratory.
Plano West on October 19 & 20
At the Plano West tournament, many PF teams advanced to the elimination rounds. Seniors Yasmine Daghestani and Anisha Reddy advanced to the Octafinal round. Senior Ali Slimi and Junior Miles Dintzner, Seniors Rachel Li and Owen Robertson, and Seniors Michael Dodgin and Miles Sigel advanced to the Double Octafinal round.
Apple Valley MinneApple Tournament on Nov. 2 & 3
At the MinneApple tournament in Apple Valley, Minnesota, five of six PF teams advanced to the elimination rounds. The teams of Senior Ali Slimi and Junior Miles Dintzner, Senior Nicolas Ho and Sophomore Jason Luo, and Junior Preston Williams and Sophomore Xuechen Yin advanced to the Double Octafinal round (the bid round). Seniors Michael Dodgin and Miles Sigel, and Seniors Anisha Reddy and Yasmine Daghestani advanced to the Triple Octafinal round. Sophomore Jason Luo was the 4th overall speaker and Senior Yasmine Daghestani was the 9th overall speaker. These are very positive results for the WHS Speech and Debate Team!
Cedar Ridge on Nov. 9 & 10
More success! Junior Preston Williams and Sophomore Xuechen Yin finished 2nd in PF, earning a TFA State qualification. Junior Jaden Panicker and Sophomore Jason Luo advanced to the Quarterfinal round of PF, Juniors Miles Dintzner and Layna Fultz, and Daniel Yang and Kevin Zhou advanced to the Octafinal round.
In Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Junior Melinda Vel advanced to the Semifinal round and Sophomore Faizaan Dossani advanced to the Quarterfinal round.
In PF, Nicolas Ho was top speaker overall, and Jason Luo was 3rd place speaker, overall.
In Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Junior Melinda Vel advanced to the Semifinal round and Sophomore Faizaan Dossani advanced to the Quarterfinal round.
In PF, Nicolas Ho was top speaker overall, and Jason Luo was 3rd place speaker, overall.
The Glenbrooks on Nov. 17-19
At the Glenbrooks Tournament just outside of Chicago, Junior Maddie Szoo won 4th place overall in Original Oratory. Maddie was competing against 160 of the top students in the country. Maddie also advanced to the semifinal round (the top 12 in the tournament) of Program Oral Interpretation. Maddie also earned two NIETOC and UK TOC bids. Senior Ali Slimi and Junior Miles Dintzner, and Senior Nicolas Ho and Sophomore Jason Luo advanced to the Double Octafinal round of Public Forum Debate. These two PF teams earned Silver UK TOC bids for their results. Sophomore Xuechen Yin and Junior Preston Williams compiled a 5-2 record in preliminary rounds and just missed advancing to elimination rounds.
San Marcos on Nov. 30 & Dec. 1
At the San Marcos TFA tournament, Seniors Owen Robertson and Rachel Li won the entire tournament in Public Forum Debate. Owen and Rachel are now qualified for the TFA State Tournament. Senior Shampurna Mitra and Sophomore Ethan Abraham advanced to the Quarterfinal round of Lincoln-Douglas Debate. Freshman Mackenzie Williams advanced to the Semifinal round of Prose Interpretation. Sophomores Jason Luo and Xuechen Yin advanced to the Quarterfinal round in Public Forum Debate.
The University of Texas Longhorn Classic on Dec. 7-8
UT was an amazing experience for the entire team. We had a blast and did very well, collectively. In Public Forum, Senior Ali Slimi and Junior Miles Dintzner won the entire tournament. In doing so, they earned their second Gold UK TOC bid. Ali and Miles are now fully qualified for the UK TOC. These two students are having an amazing year. Another student who is having an amazing year is Junior Maddie Szoo. At UT, Maddie finished 2nd in Informative Speaking (in her first foray into the event). She also advanced to the Semifinal round in both OO and POI. Maddie is now fully qualified for the NIETOC and UK TOC in OO and POI. Junior Andrew Lee advanced to the Quarterfinal round of Lincoln Douglas Debate, just missing a UK TOC bid. Senior Amanda Chen advanced to the Octafinal round of LD. Seniors Michael Dodgin and Miles Sigel advanced to the Octafinal round of PF. Seniors Owen Robertson and Rachel Li and Junior Preston Williams and Sophomore Xuechen Yin advanced to the Double Octafinal round of PF.
Stony Point/Salado Swing on Jan. 4 & 5
At the Stony Point/Salado Swing, the team once again faired incredibly well. Senior Kevin Zhou and Freshman Daniel Yang won the Stony Point side of the swing in Public Forum Debate. These two students are very close to qualifying for the TFA State Tournament. In addition to winning 2nd place speaker, Senior Shampurna Mitra semifinaled and quarterfinaled at the swing. Shampurna is now fully qualified for the TFA State Tournament. Sophomore Ethan Abraham won 2nd place in Lincoln Douglas Debate at the Salado side of the swing. Ethan is also very close to qualifying for TFA State. Junior Preston Williams and Sophomore Jason Luo both semifinaled and quarterfinaled at the swing. Preston got 2nd place speaker. Freshman Joy Wang won 5th place in Original Oratory and 4th place in Prose at the swing.
Churchill Classic on Jan. 11 & 12
Another great tournament for Westlake Speech and Debate! Seniors Miles Sigel and Michael Dodgin closed out the tournament with teammates Senior Ali Slimi and Junior Miles Dintzner in Public Forum Debate. This is Miles and Michael's first UK TOC bid and Ali and Miles' third. Closeouts are rare, so these students should be commended for their hard work in winning the Churchill Classic. Junior Maddie Szoo semifinaled in OO, POI, and Info. At such a competitive tournament, advancing to one semifinal is an accomplishment, let alone three! Senior Amanda Chen and Junior Andrew Lee advanced to the Double Octafinal round of Lincoln Douglas Debate. Senior Nicolas Ho and Sophomore Jason Luo advanced to the octafinal round of PF. Jason Luo finished 2nd place speaker overall in PF.
McNeil on Jan. 19
Seniors Anisha Reddy and Yasmine Daghestani and Freshmen Allie Robinson and Caroline Wehring closed out the tournament in Public Forum Debate. Anisha and Yasmine are now qualified for the TFA State Tournament. Juniors Jaden Panicker and Anthony York and Senior Owen Robertson and Sophomore Teresa Luo advanced to the quarterfinal round in Public Forum Debate. Freshmen Zain Syed and Jawad Bataineh, Senior Kevin Zhou and Freshman Daniel Yang, Sophomore Frank Wei and Freshman Harvey Li, and Juniors Emma Hammerness and Grant Hess advanced to the Octafinal round of Public Forum Debate. In Lincoln=Douglas Debate, West Ridge's Anastasia Keeler advanced to the semifinal round. Sophomore Faizaan Dossani advanced to the quarterfinal round, and Senior Anna Hendricks, Junior Melinda Vel, Junior Bowie Fritsch, Sophomore Ethan Abraham, and Freshman Emmett Pangan advanced to the octafinal round of Lincoln-Douglas Debate. Freshman Joy Wang advanced to the final round of Prose Interpretation and received 4th place. Senior Amanda Chen and Junior Sage Shirley finished 4th and 5th in Poetry Interpretation, respectively. Freshmen JuJu Goodell and Mackenzie Williams finished 5th in Duo Interpretation.
Roosevelt on Jan. 26
Juniors Emma Hammerness and Grant Hess, and Freshmen Allie Robinson and Caroline Wehring advanced to the quarterfinal round of Public Forum Debate.
Hays on Feb. 2
In Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Sophomore Ethan Abraham advanced to the octafinal round and qualified for TFA State. In Public-Forum Debate, Juniors Jaden Panicker and Zen Lee advanced to the semifinal round in Public Forum Debate. Senior Kevin Zhou and Freshman Daniel Yang advanced to the quarterfinal round of Public Forum Debate and qualified for TFA State. Junior Sage Shirley finished 6th in Poetry Interpretation. Freshmen JuJu Goodell and Mackenzie Williams finished 6th in Duo Interpretation.
Johnson on Feb. 9
In Public Forum Debate, Freshmen Allie Robinson and Caroline Wehring advanced to the semifinal round and qualified for TFA State.
Harvard Invitational on Feb. 16-18
At the 45th annual Harvard Invitational Tournament in Cambridge, MA, the entire team represented Westlake in fine fashion. Junior Maddie Szoo advanced to the octafinal round (top 48) of Original Oratory, earning another NIETOC bid. Seniors Rachel Li and Owen Robertson advanced to the double octafinal round of Public Forum Debate and earned a Silver TOC bid. Seniors Miles Sigel and Michael Dodgin advanced to the triple octafinal round of Public Forum Debate. Senior Ali Slimi and Junior Miles Dintzner, Seniors Anisha Reddy and Yasmine Daghestani, Senior Nicolas Ho and Sophomore Jason Luo, and Sophomore Xuechen Yin and Junior Preston Williams went 4-2 in preliminary rounds and just missed advancing. In Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Junior Andrew Lee went 4-2 in preliminary rounds and just missed advancing. Seniors Amanda Chen and Shampurna Mitra went 3-3.
NSDA District Tournament on March 1-2
The weekend of March 1 – 2, team members attended the National Speech and Debate Association Heart of Texas District Tournament at McNeil High School in Austin. Westlake won the Debate Sweepstakes award, which is awarded to the team with the most combined points in debate events! Also, three students qualified for the NSDA National Finals to be held in Dallas, TX in June 2019: Senior Ali Slimi and Sophomore Jason Luo finished first in Public Forum Debate. Ali and Jason did not lose a round during the entire tournament! Junior Maddie Szoo finished 3rd in Program Oral Interpretation, and advanced to the final round of Original Oratory. Making the finals in two events at such a competitive tournament is an amazing feat!