The high school debate season got underway the past two weekends with two
‘pre-season’ tournaments. On Saturday Oct. 6, a group of eight Chesterton
High School Congressional debaters traveled to LaPorte High School for the
Fall Practice Congress.
Chesterton’s debaters were separated into two varsity divisions of four a
piece.
In the first congressional chamber, Ronnie Kovach (2nd) and Andrea Drygas
(4th) both placed. Mikaela Meyers (4th), Matt Eggers (6th), and Kasey
O’Keefe (7th) all placed in the second chamber.
On October 13, Chesterton threw its newest group of novices into their first
tournament at Munster High School. Chesterton entered contestants in three
of the four debate categories; there was no overall team award given for the
tournament.
Chesterton had a tremendous showing in Lincoln-Douglas debate, an event that
is being headed by returning coach Carol Biel. Jackie Beissel went
undefeated and finished in third place, James Rogers came in fourth, and Joe
Bernth came in fifth place overall. This month’s Lincoln-Douglas topic
focuses on whether accused terrorist suspects should receive due process
rights.
In Policy debate, Sana Ahmad and Ayesha Khan came in fifth place while
Michael Phillips and Ariana Sone. This year’s policy topic calls for the
kids to argue on substantial increases in America’s investment in
transportation infrastructure.
Public Forum debate saw a three man team come in fifth place. Eric
Richardson, Stelian Benus, and Nate Burris all contributed to the strong
finish.
Coach Chris Lowery was pleased with the team’s performances, but not
satisfied. “It is exciting any time that we field a full bus with new kids
willing to take on the challenges that Speech and Debate naturally provides.
For many contestants, this served as validation for the hard work they have
put in. For others, this competition was about figuring out which
corrections need to be made before the next tournament.”
Chesterton enters the year having won five consecutive state titles in
Debate.
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