In the first of a series of postseason tournaments, the Chesterton High School Debate team captured three of the five national qualifying slots. Chesterton was able to qualify students in each of the three events.

The team’s qualifiers are Jon Vincent and Justin Reed (policy debate), Nikita Chawla and Christian O’Brien (Public Forum), and Jack McCrum (Lincoln-Douglas).

The District qualifying tournament is a grueling two day event.

Besides the national qualifiers, numerous Chesterton students were recognized for their performances.

In Policy Debate, Zach Bogich and Simon Andrews (1st alternate), Elaine Tagert and Humaria Khan (2nd alternate), and Kalina Smith and Victoria Simms (3rd alternate) all received awards.

Also receiving awards in Public Forum debate were Summer Stockwell and Salman Lakhani (1st alternate), Ronald Kovach and Jessica Ratel-Khan (2nd alternate), and Miranda Whah and Anthony Lara (5th place).

In Lincoln-Douglas, Michael Leopold was the first alternate and Eric Dreischerf came in fifth place. The other qualifying spots were won by students from Carroll High School in Fort Wayne.

Chesterton won the District Debate Sweepstakes trophy over Carroll. This is the first time that the district tournament has recognized a team champion for the tournament.

Students have two more opportunities to qualify for nationals. In three weeks, the team travels to Carroll High School for the Congressional District Tournament and at the end of March the team’s qualifier for the Speech events will be held.

In two weeks, Chesterton seeks to win its fifth straight state title in Debate.

Posted 1/30/2012