National Champions - 2010

As school years have kicked off, the competitive season for high school speech and debate is likewise gearing up. To honor the coaches and students in this activity, I’ll continue a series I began this summer outlining the top ten schools from the National Forensic League’s annual championship tournament. These are NOT the NFL’s official results; they stopped ranking schools at the national level after the 1994 tournament. I’ve used the same points system, though, to assemble rankings back to 2007. (See that year’s post for more information about how/why NFL stopped the standings from schools.) I’ll cover the 2010 slate here, and with any luck, I’ll publish the results from this past June shortly.

10^th: Nova High School – Davie, Florida. This program rests on the Sunshine State’s eastern seaboard, about twenty-five miles north of Miami. Their outstanding reputation in Congressional Debate was furthered at the Kansas City Nationals by Anna Tsiotsias (2^nd place, Senate) and Jacob Gilson (finalist, House). However, head coach Lisa Miller also placed three speakers in the semi-finals – Jared Odessky in national extemporaneous alongside orators Nicholas Gilyard and Nina Desarro – to boost the team back into the top ten after a four-year absence.

9^th: Leland High School – San Jose, CA. Gay Brasher’s Chargers return to the top ten after narrowly missing the cut the previous year. Zade Shakir led the team with a 2^nd place finish in humorous interpretation, and Leland’s debaters advanced in impressive numbers. Six of their seven qualified contestants in debate events reached the elimination rounds, headed by the Public Forum team of Mihir Bhaskar and Adil Majid’s and their 8-3 record.

8^th: Holy Ghost Preparatory – Bensalem, Pennsylvania. As the crow flies, this private school lies about a mile away from New Jersey; a 20-minute drive south along the same border would bring you to Philadelphia. Under coach Tony Figliola’s guidance, Holy Ghost has consistently showcased high-level speakers. Four of their squad of eleven finished in the top five in the events of dramatic interpretation (Michael Dahlgren, 3^rd), duo interpretation (Joseph Geoghan & Daniel Marcel, 2^nd), and oratory (Alphonce Mshomba, 4^th).

7^th: Walt Whitman High School – Bethesda, Maryland. Headquartered a mere five miles west of D.C., the Vikings sounded their barbaric yawp at the Kansas City Nationals, particularly in debate. Coach Anjun Choudhury managed his squad to the elimination rounds in four of the five debate divisions. Three speakers also advanced, led by Jane Kessner’s 7^th-place finish in international extemporaneous.

6^th: Monte Vista High School – Danville, CA. Not surprisingly, one of California’s best known Congressional Debate squads nabbed 2^nd place in the House division thanks to Sebastian DeLuca. David Matley continues to diversify his program with great success, however, as evidenced by Gabe Bronshteyn’s 9^th-place finish in Lincoln/Douglas and Hayden Padgett’s capture of 7^th place in dramatic interpretation.

5^th: Gabrielino High School – San Gabriel, California. Only three other schools have matched this Pasadena powerhouse’s run of three straight years in the NFL’s top five. Once again, Derek Yuill’s squad is anchored by a strong Duo team (Leo Wong & Jane Liu, 9^th place), but a total of eleven speakers and debaters would reach the elimination stages with Kevin Ye also bringing home a top-ten trophy (8^th place, national extemporaneous).

4^th: Lincoln High School – Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Nestled snugly between Interstate 29 and the state’s eastern border, just a stone’s throw from both Minnesota and Iowa, coaches Bryan Hagg and Tony Martinet helped this well established program burst into the NFL’s top ranks with an incredibly deep squad at Kansas City. The Patriots qualified seventeen students in nine of the eleven main events and advanced thirteen students to eliminations. The Duo team of Ryan & Christopher Wilkins went the farthest, capturing 12^th place overall.

3^rd: Bellarmine College Preparatory – San Jose, California. Not unlike Gabrielino, this South Bay stalwart spends its fourth straight year among the top five schools at Nationals, led by Jacob Baker’s championship in international extemporaneous and Tanay Kothari’s appearance in the finals of the Senate in Congressional Debate. In sum, coach Kim Jones brought a squad of fifteen competitors in nine different events. They advanced to elimination rounds in eight of the nine.

2^nd: James Logan High School – Union City, California. Out of the plethora of California programs that have appeared in the NFL’s top ten this decade, coach Tommie Lindsey’s students have become a fixture in the upper echelon. In 2010, the Colts continued an astonishing six-year streak among the top five schools with orator Miles Bridges (2^nd place) and Duo teams Coleton Schmitto & Alexa Rocero and Ismael Williams & Drake Poug (4^th and 5^th, respectively) likewise reaching the upper decile in their events.

2010 National Champion: Eagan High School – Eagan, Minnesota. Joni Anker and Chris McDonald claim their fourth title in eight years; only two other schools have ever amassed their first quartet of championships in such a short span. With only one finalist entry (6^th place Duo team Joshua Evans & Lauren Stopfer), this may appear to be the Wildcats’ hardest-fought climb to the summit. However, a close look at the team statistics – namely seventeen students in eliminations and just seven losses across thirty debate rounds – makes the case stick.