by Michelle Liu, managing editor
The Consol speech and debate team competed at their first tournament of the season in the Woodlands on Sept. 13-14, placing 4th overall.
“It was pleasantly surprising,” coach Roy Rodriguez said. “I always go on the first tournament of the year thinking ‘trial run,’ but the kids did really well.”
Of Consol’s 11 competitors, ten students reached the finals in their events.
Junior Karna Venkatraj, who placed first in Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking, was excited for the opportunities the tournament offered.
“I had a lot of fun talking to friends from other teams and [advocating] for what I believe in when it comes to world issues,” Venkatraj said.
Likewise, senior Patrick Lynch, who placed second behind Venkatraj, noted that competing in new events like Congressional Debate was “refreshing.”
“It was nerve-wracking,” Lynch said. “I had to do a lot of last minute preparation.”
Tiger Forensics has some new things up its sleeve, too.
“It’s the first time we did a tournament with Twitter,” Rodriguez said. “I felt like I was at a football game. We were all ‘tweetering’ together.”
The team’s next tournament is on Oct. 18-19 in Cypress Springs.
“I honestly think that the team has potential to do great things this year,” Rodriguez said.
Results:
Karna Venkatraj: 1st Place, Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking & Congressional Debate Finalist
Kenny Morgan: Top Speaker, Novice Lincoln-Douglas Debate and 4th Place Novice Extemporaneous Speaking
Patrick Lynch: 2nd Place, Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking & 2nd Place, Congressional Debate.
Marley Hays: 2nd Place, Humorous Interpretation
Elizabeth Burley: 4th Place, Original Oration, Congressional Debate Finalist & Semi-Finalist Prose Interpretation
Sophia Woodward: 4th Place, Poetry
Taylor Zhang: Congressional Debate Finalist & Semi-Finalist, Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking
Paul Morgan: Congressional Debate Finalist & Semi-Finalist, Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking
Kevin Choi: Congressional Debate Finalist
Shankar Srinivasan: Congressional Debate Finalist
Alex Coopersmith: Semi-Finalist, Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking
