LucyKalkowski

The speech team sent four competitors to Districts: juniors Shradha Mamilla, Majieahna Winfrey, Hannah Taylor and Violet Christen, who all placed within the top five. Mamilla placed fifth in Persuasive, Winfrey placed fourth in Poetry, Taylor placed fourth in Dramatic Interpretation and third in Point of Information (POI) and Christen placed fourth in Informative and third in Entertainment.

Winfrey, Taylor and Christen all qualified for State due to their District scores. At State, Christen placed sixth in the Class A Entertainment final. Earlier in the year, both Taylor and Christen also competed at a National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) Nationals qualifier tournament and Christen placed seventh, nearly making it to Nationals.

At another tournament, Mamilla and Christen qualified for the National Individual Events Tournament of Champions in Kansas City. Unlike the NSDA National Tournament, this tournament is held in May instead of June. The speech coaches are Jenny Philbin, Mary Pistillo, Emma Frazier and assisted by Mrs. Jen Christen.

The debate team also saw success during their district tournament. Sophomores Vasudha Santhanam and Vandana Santhanam were semifinalists and qualified as the first alternates for Nationals in Policy debate. Senior Caroline McDonald was a quarterfinalist in Lincoln-Douglas (LD) debate. Sophomores Rita Harr and Saniya Harris-Alcorn were semifinalists and first alternates for Nationals in Public Forum (PF). 

In Congressional debate, junior Lauren Hicks ranked eighth place, junior Molly Duncan earned sixth place and senior Liz Nguyen earned fourth place. It qualified her for Nationals in the House of Representatives. Junior Izumi Huang Fujiwara placed sixth and earned top Presiding Officer (PO) in the Senate.

During Districts, the team earned third place overall and was given the Leading Chapter Award. English teacher Ms. Halli Tripe was recognized as the District Coach of the Year for the team’s performance and in celebration of her last year as the head coach of the team. 

After Districts, there was an event called Big Questions during which senior Emma Kaczmarek placed as the second alternate to Nationals. McDonald was the champion in Big Questions and therefore qualified for its National tournament. 

At State, the Debate team also earned several awards to end their season. In Policy, Vasudha and Vandana Santhanam were semifinalists. In LD, Kaczmarek was an octofinalist and McDonald placed first— the first time anyone in Marian’s debate team history has been the champion of LD at State. 

In Congress, seniors Coventry Thompson, Lucy Kalkowski, Nguyen and Huang-Fujiwara all made it to finals. Huang-Fujiwara placed ninth and earned Top PO. Nguyen placed third overall. 

Coaches for the debate team are Tripe, Fred Robertson and Matt Casas.