The Harker speech and debate team had excellent results in all four divisions it entered at the Western JV and Novice National Championship this past weekend. The tournament, hosted by San Francisco State University on March 9-10, attracted 32 schools from three states.
In JV Lincoln-Douglas debate, Harker students set a record! Harker was the first school in the history of the tournament to have the top six finishers in any event.
Deven Shah, Akhilesh Chegu, Karoun Kaushik and Arnav Dani, all grade 9, along with Krish Mysoor and Ansh Sheth, both grade 7, closed out two quarterfinals and all of the semifinals, making them co-champions. Shah was also the top speaker in the division.
Angela Gao, grade 9, was the champion of the novice Lincoln-Douglas debate. Freshmen Ayan Nath and Dhruv Saoji were in the finals of JV public forum debate, where they lost on a close 2-3 decision. Aimee Wang and Alina Yuan, also both grade 9, were in the quarterfinals of JV public forum. As the higher seeded Harker team, they were walked over Arjun Gurjar and Kabir Buch, both grade 7. In novice public forum, Caden Lin and Vedant Kenkare, both grade 9, made it to semifinals. The tournament was also special because so many upperclassmen attended as mentors and judges. The middle school and upper school coaches were very proud of the extraordinary work of all of the students!
By Jenny Achten, Speech and Debate Department Chair
The Harker speech and debate team has continued its winning streak this winter with successes at a host of tournaments across the nation. Students traveled to tournaments across California as well as in Illinois, Georgia, Arizona and Florida. Harker is having an especially strong season and we are proud of the success of all of the students.
In early November, students attended a tournament at Notre Dame High School in Los Angeles. Sachin Shah, grade 11, was in the semi-finals of Lincoln-Douglas debate. Kelly Shen, grade 12, also made it to elimination rounds in Lincoln-Douglas. Anuhsa Kuppahally, grade 12, Maddie Huynh, grade 11, Andy Lee, grade 10 and Deven Shah, grade 9, all qualified for elimination rounds in policy debate.
At the Glenbrooks tournament in Chicago, our speech and congress students shined in late November. Haris Hosseini, grade 12, was first place in original oratory. Nikki Solanki, grade 11, was fifth place program oral interpretation and made it to semi-finals in dramatic interpretation. Jason Lin, grade 10; David Feng, grade 11; Andrew Sun, grade 10; and Nathan Ohana, grade 10, all made it to the semi-final round of congressional debate.
Students also won multiple awards at local league tournaments throughout the area. Meghna Phalke, grade 12, was a finalist in original oratory. In congressional debate tournaments Tiffany Zhao, grade 11, and Nakul Bajaj, grade 11, both placed second, Brandon Lin, grade 11, was third, while Andrew Lu, grade 10, and Aaditya Gulati, grade 9, both placed fifth.
Travel continued to the College Preparatory School in Oakland in late December where Akshay Manglik, grade 10, made it to the octo-finals in Lincoln-Douglas debate. Sachin Shah, Shen and Anshul Reddy, grade 9, also made it to elimination rounds of Lincoln-Douglas.
At the Arizona State University tournament in early January Sachin Shah, reached the octofinals in Lincoln-Douglas debate while Julia Biswas, grade 10, and partner Deven Shah reached the octofinals in policy debate. In congressional debate, Sun placed fifth and Jason Huang, grade 12, also reached finals. Ashwin Rammohan, grade 12, Annie Ma, grade 11, Bajaj, Ohana and Riyaa Randhawa, grade 9, reached semifinals of congress. Additionally, Hosseini placed first in original oratory.
Students also won awards at the Sunvitational Tournament in Fort Lauderdale this January. Jason Huang, grade 12, was in semis of congressional debate. Avi Gulati, grade 11, was third in extemporaneous speaking and made it to semi-finals of original oratory. Hosseini, was third in original oratory. Solanki, was in semis of program oral interpretation.
At the Harvard Westlake Lincoln-Douglas tournament in January, Manglik made it all of the way to the semi-final round. Shen and Sachin Shah also qualified for elimination rounds.
During the same weekend as Harvard-Westlake students also competed at the James Logan tournament in Union City. Ayan Nath, grade 9, and Ellen Guo, grade 11, reached the elimination rounds; Nath was named the fourth overall speaker and partner Guo placed 14. Prerana Archaryya, grade 11, placed fifth in dramatic interpretation of literature.
Finally, at the Barkley Forum Invitational at Emory University in Atlanta, Avi Gulati placed first in original oratory and Hosseini, placed third. Sun reached the finals of congressional debate while Ma, Ohana and Bajaj reached congressional semifinals. In policy debate, Kuppahally and Huynh reached double octo-finals.
The speech and debate season will continue until June with tournaments ranging all over California as well as Dallas, Chicago, and Lexington, Kentucky.
By Jenny Achten, Speech and Debate Department Chair
The Harker speech and debate team has continued its winning streak this winter with successes at a host of tournaments across the nation. Students traveled to tournaments across California as well as in Illinois, Georgia, Arizona and Florida. Harker is having an especially strong season and we are proud of the success of all of the students.
In early November, students attended a tournament at Notre Dame High School in Los Angeles. Sachin Shah, grade 11, was in the semi-finals of Lincoln-Douglas debate. Kelly Shen, grade 12, also made it to elimination rounds in Lincoln-Douglas. Anuhsa Kuppahally, grade 12, Maddie Huynh, grade 11, Andy Lee, grade 10 and Deven Shah, grade 9, all qualified for elimination rounds in policy debate.
At the Glenbrooks tournament in Chicago, our speech and congress students shined in late November. Haris Hosseini, grade 12, was first place in original oratory. Nikki Solanki, grade 11, was fifth place program oral interpretation and made it to semi-finals in dramatic interpretation. Jason Lin, grade 10; David Feng, grade 11; Andrew Sun, grade 10; and Nathan Ohana, grade 10, all made it to the semi-final round of congressional debate.
Students also won multiple awards at local league tournaments throughout the area. Meghna Phalke, grade 12, was a finalist in original oratory. In congressional debate tournaments Tiffany Zhao, grade 11, and Nakul Bajaj, grade 11, both placed second, Brandon Lin, grade 11, was third, while Andrew Lu, grade 10, and Aaditya Gulati, grade 9, both placed fifth.
Travel continued to the College Preparatory School in Oakland in late December where Akshay Manglik, grade 10, made it to the octo-finals in Lincoln-Douglas debate. Sachin Shah, Shen and Anshul Reddy, grade 9, also made it to elimination rounds of Lincoln-Douglas.
At the Arizona State University tournament in early January Sachin Shah, reached the octofinals in Lincoln-Douglas debate while Julia Biswas, grade 10, and partner Deven Shah reached the octofinals in policy debate. In congressional debate, Sun placed fifth and Jason Huang, grade 12, also reached finals. Ashwin Rammohan, grade 12, Annie Ma, grade 11, Bajaj, Ohana and Riyaa Randhawa, grade 9, reached semifinals of congress. Additionally, Hosseini placed first in original oratory.
Students also won awards at the Sunvitational Tournament in Fort Lauderdale this January. Jason Huang, grade 12, was in semis of congressional debate. Avi Gulati, grade 11, was third in extemporaneous speaking and made it to semi-finals of original oratory. Hosseini, was third in original oratory. Solanki, was in semis of program oral interpretation.
At the Harvard Westlake Lincoln-Douglas tournament in January, Manglik made it all of the way to the semi-final round. Shen and Sachin Shah also qualified for elimination rounds.
During the same weekend as Harvard-Westlake students also competed at the James Logan tournament in Union City. Ayan Nath, grade 9, and Ellen Guo, grade 11, reached the elimination rounds; Nath was named the fourth overall speaker and partner Guo placed 14. Prerana Archaryya, grade 11, placed fifth in dramatic interpretation of literature.
Finally, at the Barkley Forum Invitational at Emory University in Atlanta, Avi Gulati placed first in original oratory and Hosseini, placed third. Sun reached the finals of congressional debate while Ma, Ohana and Bajaj reached congressional semifinals. In policy debate, Kuppahally and Huynh reached double octo-finals.
The speech and debate season will continue until June with tournaments ranging all over California as well as Dallas, Chicago, and Lexington, Kentucky.
By Jenny Achten, Speech and Debate Department Chair
The Harker speech and debate team has continued its winning streak this winter with successes at a host of tournaments across the nation. Students traveled to tournaments across California as well as in Illinois, Georgia, Arizona and Florida. Harker is having an especially strong season and we are proud of the success of all of the students.
In early November, students attended a tournament at Notre Dame High School in Los Angeles. Sachin Shah, grade 11, was in the semi-finals of Lincoln-Douglas debate. Kelly Shen, grade 12, also made it to elimination rounds in Lincoln-Douglas. Anuhsa Kuppahally, grade 12, Maddie Huynh, grade 11, Andy Lee, grade 10 and Deven Shah, grade 9, all qualified for elimination rounds in policy debate.
At the Glenbrooks tournament in Chicago, our speech and congress students shined in late November. Haris Hosseini, grade 12, was first place in original oratory. Nikki Solanki, grade 11, was fifth place program oral interpretation and made it to semi-finals in dramatic interpretation. Jason Lin, grade 10; David Feng, grade 11; Andrew Sun, grade 10; and Nathan Ohana, grade 10, all made it to the semi-final round of congressional debate.
Students also won multiple awards at local league tournaments throughout the area. Meghna Phalke, grade 12, was a finalist in original oratory. In congressional debate tournaments Tiffany Zhao, grade 11, and Nakul Bajaj, grade 11, both placed second, Brandon Lin, grade 11, was third, while Andrew Lu, grade 10, and Aaditya Gulati, grade 9, both placed fifth.
Travel continued to the College Preparatory School in Oakland in late December where Akshay Manglik, grade 10, made it to the octo-finals in Lincoln-Douglas debate. Sachin Shah, Shen and Anshul Reddy, grade 9, also made it to elimination rounds of Lincoln-Douglas.
At the Arizona State University tournament in early January Sachin Shah, reached the octofinals in Lincoln-Douglas debate while Julia Biswas, grade 10, and partner Deven Shah reached the octofinals in policy debate. In congressional debate, Sun placed fifth and Jason Huang, grade 12, also reached finals. Ashwin Rammohan, grade 12, Annie Ma, grade 11, Bajaj, Ohana and Riyaa Randhawa, grade 9, reached semifinals of congress. Additionally, Hosseini placed first in original oratory.
Students also won awards at the Sunvitational Tournament in Fort Lauderdale this January. Jason Huang, grade 12, was in semis of congressional debate. Avi Gulati, grade 11, was third in extemporaneous speaking and made it to semi-finals of original oratory. Hosseini, was third in original oratory. Solanki, was in semis of program oral interpretation.
At the Harvard Westlake Lincoln-Douglas tournament in January, Manglik made it all of the way to the semi-final round. Shen and Sachin Shah also qualified for elimination rounds.
During the same weekend as Harvard-Westlake students also competed at the James Logan tournament in Union City. Ayan Nath, grade 9, and Ellen Guo, grade 11, reached the elimination rounds; Nath was named the fourth overall speaker and partner Guo placed 14. Prerana Archaryya, grade 11, placed fifth in dramatic interpretation of literature.
Finally, at the Barkley Forum Invitational at Emory University in Atlanta, Avi Gulati placed first in original oratory and Hosseini, placed third. Sun reached the finals of congressional debate while Ma, Ohana and Bajaj reached congressional semifinals. In policy debate, Kuppahally and Huynh reached double octo-finals.
The speech and debate season will continue until June with tournaments ranging all over California as well as Dallas, Chicago, and Lexington, Kentucky.
By Jenny Achten, speech and debate department chair, 6-12
The speech and debate team has had some great results thus far in the season. Students have won awards in both local and national events in all five major events (policy debate, speech, Lincoln-Douglas debate, public forum debate and Congress).
The team of Anusha Kuppahally, grade 12, and Maddie Huynh, grade 11, made it to elimination rounds at both the Valley Invitational in Iowa and the St. Mark’s tournament in Texas. Andy Lee, grade 10, and Deven Shah, grade 9, were also in elimination rounds in Iowa. In policy debate, the yearlong topic is about whether the United States should ease restrictions on immigration. Harker’s advocated for the United States to accept more refugees from Syria.
The speech students are also off to a great start with Alycia Cary, grade 12, winning an award at the Yale Invitational in original oratory. Nikki Solanki, grade 11, took second place in both programmed oral interpretation and dramatic interpretation at the Florida Blue Key tournament. Solanki also won first place in dramatic performance at the Florida Blue Key round robin. Jay Menon, grade 12, also reached elimination rounds in Florida with his oratory. The team is also proud of Brian Pinkston and Ellis Goldman, both grade 10; Andrea Thia, grade 9; and Brandon Lin, grade 11, for making the final rounds of a local league tournament.
A number of the Lincoln-Douglas students also have represented Harker extremely well. Kelly Shen, grade 12; Akshay Manglik, grade 10; and Quentin Clark, grade 11, all qualified for elimination rounds at the Valley tournament in Iowa. Manglik also made it to elimination rounds at the Presentation tournament in San Jose, along with Aditya Tadimeti, grade 10; Sachin Shah, grade 11; and Anshul Reddy, grade 9. Manglik, Tadimeti and Reddy also cleared at the St. Mark’s tournament in Texas. They have debated topics ranging from the rights of reporters to protect confidential sources to privacy concerns for candidates for public office.
In public forum, the duo of Annie Ma and Amanda Cheung, both grade 11, as well as Cindy Wang and Clarissa Wang, both grade 12, and the pairing of Datha Arramreddy, grade 11, and Raymond Banke, grade 12, were in elimination rounds of the Milpitas Invitational. Naveen Mirapuri and Chandan Aggarwal, both grade 11, also won awards at the St. Francis tournament. Their current topic is about whether or not the federal government should impose price controls on the pharmaceutical industry.
Finally, in Congressional debate, Jason Lin, grade 10; Jason Huang, grade 12; and Andrew Sun, grade 10, earned bids to nationals at the Yale Invitational. Sun and Nakul Bajaj, grade 11, both placed second at a league event. Lin, Sun, Riyaa Randhawa, grade 9, and David Feng, grade 11, earned bids to nationals at the Florida Blue Key Invitational.
The coaches are very proud of the success students have enjoyed across the team. This semester, the team will also travel to Los Angeles, Phoenix, Chicago, and Oakland in addition to attending some local events in San Jose and Santa Clara.
Coach Greg Achten noted, “I am really proud of our students’ success but even more proud of the way they have come together this year and worked as a team. The level of support the students show one another and work to help their teammates both in class and at tournaments tells me a lot about how inclusive and caring our students are.”
The speech and debate team wrapped up its season with some nice results! Haris Hosseini, rising senior, made it to the final round of original oratory at the National Speech & Debate Association championship and ended up taking a righteous third place. Jennifer Achten, Harker debate chair, noted Hosseini’s “nine-minute speech is a powerful critique of toxic masculinity.”
Rising junior Avi Gulati made the semifinals of original oratory with a speech about the pitfalls of mimicry and the value of being your own person, Achten noted. Gulati finished in seventh place, giving Harker two of the top 10 spots in the nation! These results put Harker in the top 10 overall in speech event sweepstakes. “Coach Scott Odekirk has done a wonderful job guiding their speeches and we are all very proud of the whole crew,” said Achten.
Harker middle school speech and debate team members competed at three tournaments in three states – California, Georgia and Texas – in April and early May.
In April, at the National Debate Coaches Association National Championship in Atlanta, 166 entries from 102 schools across 26 states competed. Harker had two middle school entrants and a few upper school entrants.
Also in April, 10 middle and upper school Harker students competed at the St. Marks Novice Round Up in Dallas. A dozen schools were represented. Results are below.
Novice Policy
1st – Deven Shah and Andy Lee, grades 8 and 9, respectively, went undefeated with a perfect 19-0 ballot count.
Novice Policy Speaker Awards
1st – Andy Lee
2nd – Deven Shah
6th – Ansh Sheth, grade 6
On May 7, approximately 40 Harker middle schools students competed against each other in two distinct intramural debate events in preparation for the Middle School Tournament of Champions Nationals, and earned the following awards:
Lincoln-Douglas
1st – Rahul Santhanam, grade 7
2nd – Brian Chen, grade 7
Public Forum
1st – Sriram Bhimaraju and Arjun Gurjar, both grade 6 (3-0)
2nd – Adam Sayed and Sathvik Chundru, both grade 6 (3-0)
Public Forum Speaker Awards
1st – Sascha Pakravan, grade 8
2nd – Carol Wininger, grade 7
3rd – Ansh Sheth, grade 6
4th – Ayan Nath, grade 8
5th – Deeya Viradia, grade 7
In early May, Harker speech and debate team members attended the middle school TOC at the University of Kentucky, in Lexington.
At the event, 232 of the best middle school speech and debate students from 35 schools competed. Overall, Harker had great success across all events. Harker won the First Place Sweepstakes Team Award for best middle school speech and debate team in the country.
Harker students won the following awards, competing against some of the best middle school teams in the country:
Policy
1st – Deven Shah and Mir Bahri, grade 7, undefeated, 20-0 ballot count
5th – Saanvi Arora, grade 8, and Sarah Mohammed, grade 7
Policy Speaker Awards
2nd – Deven Shah
18th – Mir Bahri
Lincoln-Douglas
2nd – Anshul Reddy, grade 8
3rd – Alexander Lan, grade 7
5th – Akhilesh Chegu, grade 8
5th – Arnav Dani, grade 8
9th – Brian Chen, grade 7
Lincoln-Douglas Speaker Awards
1st – Akhilesh Chegu, grade 8
3rd – Krish Maniar, grade 7
4th – Anshul Reddy, grade 8
Public Forum
1st – Sascha Pakravan and Ayan Nath
2nd – Krishna Mysoor, grade 7, and Ansh Sheth
5th – Arnav Jain and Rohan Rashingkar, both grade 8
17th – Michelle Jin and Lexi Nishimura, both grade 7
Harker students did extremely well last weekend at the California High School Speech Association state tournament, with four Eagles making it to finals! Avi Gulati, grade 10, was second in original oratory; Haris Hosseini, grade 11, was third in original oratory; Nikki Solanki, grade 10, was seventh in thematic interpretation; and Jason Huang, grade 11, was seventh in congressional debate. Jason Lin, grade 9, also qualified to compete in congressional debate. Congrats to the students and coach Scott Odekirk on a great season. Watch for more speech and debate news from National Speech & Debate Association Nationals in June.
The policy debate duo of Anusha Kuppahally, grade 11, and Megan Huynh, grade 12, finished the season tied for fifth place in the nation! The tournament, hosted by the National Debate Coaches Association, was held in Atlanta last week. The team of Alan Hughes and Jacob Ohana, both grade 12, also had a nice finish in the double octofinals of the tournament.
Harker’s varsity speech and debate team is heading into the end-of-season championships phase! The team has qualified an impressive 18 students (see photo!) to represent us at state and various national championships. The coaches are especially proud that the school will be represented in all of our main events: policy debate, Lincoln-Douglas debate, speech, congress and public forum debate.
This weekend, students will attend the first of the national championships, hosted by the National Debate Coaches Association in Atlanta. Next weekend, team members will attend the state championship in Mountain House, near Tracy. The weekend after, they will travel to the Tournament of Champions in Lexington, Ky. The team concludes its season with the National Speech & Debate Association Championship in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in June. Watch for updates!
Qualifiers are:
Alan Hughes, grade 12
Megan Huynh, grade 12
Serena Lu, grade 12
Jacob Ohana, grade 12
Alycia Cary, grade 11
Nikhil Dharmaraj, grade 11
Haris Hosseini, grade 11
Jason Huang, grade 11
Anusha Kuppahally, grade 11
Cindy Wang, grade 11
Clarissa Wang, grade 11
Avi Gulati, grade 10
Maddie Huynh, grade 10
Sachin Shah, grade 10
Nikki Solanki, grade 10
Jason Lin, grade 9
Andy Lee, grade 9
Andrew Sun, grade 9
Huge congrats to all! Best of luck in the coming events!