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.
Sophomore Joy Wang won 3rd in Original Oratory.
Sophomore 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.
