Calhoun's High School debaters will be finishing up a successful fall semester of competition this weekend, as nine two-person teams will travel to the Ohio Valley tournament in Lexington , Kentucky . Five varsity teams and four novice teams will take the six-hour bus ride to compete in Calhoun's thirteenth tournament of the season.
So far this year, Calhoun's varsity debaters' travels have included St. Marks and Greenhill in Dallas , the Glenbrooks in Chicago, the University of Michigan and Wake Forest in North Carolina.
The varsity team has won a variety of team and speaker awards this fall, including juniors Leah Poole and Dana Higgins who won the Warner Robins tournament, advanced to the Quarter-final round of the Westminster Tournament, and had a winning record at the Glenbrooks in Chicago. Junior Matt Bishop and sophomore Joseph Bearden took third place varsity team at Trion, where Bearden won a top ten speaker award. Sophomore Kaitlin DeFoor and Freshman Leah Smith have advanced to the elimination rounds at Chattahoochee and Carrollton. Juniors Kayla Jarrett and Zachary Budzius combined to help win Warner Robins . Jarrett was a top ten speaker at Westminster , and had multiple wins with her partner, sophomore Ben Jordon, at Michigan and in Chicago .
All of the returning debaters have been competing at the varsity level this year, including freshman Leah Smith. "Calhoun debate is in the middle of a Renaissance," said Head coach Edward Williams. "It will take hard work and sacrifice for these youngsters to return Calhoun to a national championship team," he said.
One of the few junior division entries of this fall came when Kaitlin DeFoor teamed with Ben Jordon, and Joseph Bearden paired with Hunter Hammond, at the National Sophomore Round-Robin in Dallas . DeFoor and Jordon finished with a 9-3 record. Second year debater Matthew Bishop paired with novice Will Travis to win the JV division of Warner Robins .
The lone returning senior on the team, Ricky Coates, has added Lincoln Douglas debate to his repertoire. Coates, who won tournaments in prior years in Public Forum and Policy debate, made it to the final round in LD at Chattahoochee High School .
Williams added, "We have a promising group of first year policy debaters, some of whom have moved up from our middle school program, and some who are new to the activity." They include Kenia Delgado, Krystal Funes, Will Travis, Matthew Workman, Jonathan Serrano, Zachary Carrier, Meryum Suboh, Evelyn Gonzalez, and Tysheen Ford. Calhoun's novice debaters have won a number of awards this year, including numerous team awards by Carrier and Serrano, and by Travis and Delgado, and speaker awards by Funes, Travis, Carrier and Serrano.
The debate team's spring tournament schedule begins in early January at Montgomery Bell Academy in Tennessee, before the team travels to Lexington High in Boston and Pine Crest in Fort Lauderdale, Florida . They will compete at the Barkley Forum at Emory and UGA tournament in Athens , before the State competition. Their goal is receive invitations to the Tournament of Champions to be held at the University of Kentucky , and the National Debate Coach's Association tournament in Miami , which are both held in the spring.
CHS debaters at Chattahoochee HS, (L-R) Ricky Coates, Kenia Delgado, Krystal Funes, Kaitlin DeFoor, Will Travis, Leah Smith, Matthew Bisop, Meryum Soboh, Evelyn Gonzalez, Joseph Bearden, Jonathan Serrano, Matt Workman, Zachary Carrier
CHS Debaters at Glenbrooks in Chicago (L-R) Lane Bearden, Ricky Coates, Kayla Jarrett, Ben Jordon, Leah Poole, Dana Higgins, Edward Williams (Head Coach)
CHS Debaters at Trion (L-R) Joseph Bearden, Matthew Bishop, Kaitlin DeFoor, Leah Smith, Kenia Delgado, Meryum Soboh, Jonathan Serrano, Zachary Carrier, Evelyn Gonzalez, Krystal Funes, Lane Bearden
CHS Debaters at Chamblee (L-R) Will Travis, Evelyn Gonzalez, Krystal Funes, Leah Smith, Kenia Delgado, Matt Bishop, Jonathan Serrano, Tysheen Ford, Zachary Carrier, Matt Workman, Zachary Budzius, Jadon Marianetti (Asst Coach).