The 2023-2024 Debate season has come to a close and ended off with a bang! The CHS Debate Team competed against Valparaiso High School this past weekend and three students have been qualified for nationals. Senior Payton Whalen qualified in Congress, while juniors Lucas Koch and Rian Goins both qualified in Policy. The Debate Team has worked very hard and has had a tremendous season this year!
While issues such as weather have delayed some tournaments, the team held strong and really gave it their all this season. The Debate team finished at state, achieving fourth place overall at Kokomo High School in January. Goins and Koch completed as octafinalists for state. Both have had a great season, having been runner-ups in policy in tournaments including Fishers and Munster, but were champions at Concord for policy. Both Patrick Hansen and Zac Marchese were placed as quarterfinalists for state. Both were qualified as runner-ups in policy at Ben Davis, Penn, and Concord but were champions in policy at Valparaiso. Lastly, for policy, Alaina Mcgrogan and Milena Letic were both placed as semifinalists for state.
In Lincoln-Douglas, senior Sophia Worden was placed as a semifinalist for the state tournament but also had a great season as well, having been the champion for Concord in Lincoln-Douglas. For Public Forum, Kassidy Robinson and Tyler Cichockin were placed as octa-finalists. While in Congress, Tiffany Nolasco was placed as a semifinalist and Whalen was placed as a finalist, having won ninth at state. Whalen also had an impressive season, having been runner-up in Congress, alongside Imperious Allison, in Munster and being qualified for nationals.
Some other incredible accomplishments for some other students involved in Debate would include; Lee Fleishhacker being a runner-up for Lincoln-Douglas in Munster, while Kolvin Dade took home the championship for Munster. Along with some student success, policy was really a show-stopper this season as well.
“I’m really proud of policy for holding through,” says Worden. “They have really pushed through without their main coach being here, so I am really proud of them.”
As already mentioned, three CHS students have been qualified for nationals and will be heading to Des Moines, Iowa in the summer. In order to qualify for nationals, teams must go to district tournaments to see if some team members qualify. While not all members get to go to nationals, it is still a huge accomplishment for their fellow teammates.
As Debate season comes to an end, it truly is an emotional goodbye for some of the seniors on the team.
“A lot of aspects are really sad because I have been doing this for four years,” explains Worden. “It’s really bittersweet and I am really proud of just everybody putting their best effort forward.”
Congratulations to the Debate team for placing fourth at state and having three of their students qualify for nationals! Good luck for their upcoming tournament and best of wishes towards the qualifiers!
