The RBHS speech and debate team competed at the Sparpie Season Opener at Battle High School (BHS) on Oct. 13 and 14.
Senior Andrew Romitti, RBHS Speech and Debate co-captain placed first in the varsity Radio Speaking and United States Extemporaneous Speaking events. Romitti said he was excited to get back into the season.
“This was the final first tournament of my high school career, so I wanted to make it a good first impression,” Romitti said. “During the beginning of the tournament, I felt anxious, but after round one I felt good about my performance, and I was ready to compete in the next two preliminary rounds.”
It was the first time BHS and Hickman High School hosted a tournament together, The head coach of all CPS debate teams, Dr. Danielle Johnson, helped to both host the event and coach RBHS during the tournament. RBHS Assistant Coach Marissa Moore said she liked the pirate-themed tournament, and that the event ran more smoothly than others.
“I’m so proud of all of the students,” Moore said. “Especially [of] our [event] chairs and captains, who did a great job teaching our new members what to do.”
Freshman Liv LaMonda competed for the first time at the Sparpie tournament and took home a first-place win in Novice Dramatic Interpretation. For weeks leading up to the tournament, she prepared her piece and memorized it before arriving on Saturday for speech events.
“Friday was a little stressful because it was the first tournament for me,” LaMonda said. “My final round of Dramatic Interpretation went really well, but we had a difficult time finding judges to complete the panel [of three], but it worked out in the end.”
With 32 advances to our rounds at this tournament, RBHS coaches and leadership are looking forward to competing at their next tournament in less than two weeks. The RBHS Speech and Debate team will reflect on the Sparpie tournament to prepare for upcoming tournaments.
“I’m excited to see how we all place at tournaments moving forward,” Romitti said. “The Sparpie tournament gave me insight into what the season will hold for our team. I’m proud of both myself and the team, especially for winning second in the sweepstakes.”
RBHS Speech and Debate final placements:
Combined Extemporaneous Speaking
David Durham – 6th
Alvi Ahnaf – 5th
Jacob McCullough – 4th
Duo Interpretation:
Liz Wheeler & Bec Scrivner – 5th
Victor Petruc & Nitish Jalisatgi – 3rd
International Extemporaneous Speaking:
Luqman Sheth – 6th
David Nguyen – 4th
Shahab Bariz – 2nd
Novice Dramatic Interpretation:
Laya Anand – 2nd
Liv LaMonda – 1st
Novice Informative Speaking:
Yedam Na – 4th
Vani Kumar – 2nd
Novice Lincoln-Douglas:
Laya Anand – Semifinalist
Original Oratory
Nate Brothers – 6th place
Jiya Shetty – 1st place
Poetry:
Jessly Lemuz-Guerra – 3rd
Program Oral Interpretation:
Ahlam Alamin – 1st
Radio Speaking:
Zijie Jiang – 5th
Shahab Bariz – 2nd
Andrew Romitti – 1st
Storytelling:
Vivien Miller – 5th
Sophia Li – 2nd
United States Extemporaneous Speaking:
Truman Varns – 6th
Hashir Bariz – 5th
Carter Fairlamb – 2nd
Andrew Romitti – 1st
Varsity Informative Speaking:
Jiya Shetty – 3rd
Varsity Lincoln-Douglas:
Isabella Shah – Semifinalist
Luqman Sheth – Semifinalist
Jiya Shetty – 1st
Varsity Public Forum Debate:
David Nguyen & Hashir Bariz – Semifinalist
Victor Petruc & Michael Kouba – Semifinalist
Shahab Bariz & Kerra Lindbloom – 1st
Sweeps:
Rock Bridge – 2nd
Are you competing in speech and debate this year? Let us know in the comments below.
