Speech and Debate scores big on second weekend of State Qualifiers
The Northwood High Speech and Debate team sent five people to the state competition after the second State Qualifying Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 27.
As part of the Orange County Speech League, Northwood competed with schools from across the county to determine who would advance to the State competition in Lincoln-Douglas debate and Parliamentary debate.
In the Lincoln-Douglas debate, an individual debate centered on the topic of philosophy, 44 people competed with the top four people qualifying to go to State. The top eight competitors were chosen after three preliminary rounds and three Round-Robin rounds. Senior Kevin Fu took 1st place, winning all of his rounds. Seniors Peter Joe, who took 3rd, and Michael Lee, who placed 4th, also advanced to the state tournament. Junior Angela Luh took 6th place.
Parliamentary debate, a partner debate, had 38 teams competing for the top two spots that advance to State. The top five teams remained after multiple elimination rounds, and from there, the teams eliminated each other until the top two teams remained. The team of seniors Kevin Kim and Josh Hwang advanced to State, placing 2nd in the Parliamentary debate while seniors John Yu and Neil Tennyson placed 5th.
“The team did well. There were so many good teams that [Northwood competitors] knocked each other out, but overall, the team did an awesome job,” said debate coach Sheryl Sloate.
