Congratulations to the Talking Rams, the LWHHS speech and debate team, who won first place in the 2015 Parkway Classic hosted by Parkway West on Oct. 9 & 10. The team also took home the win at the Oakville Autumn Congress invitational on Oct. 3 at Oakville High School!
The team also earned designation in the Two Hundred Club of the National Forensic League of the National Speech and Debate Association for 2015. This designation means the team earned more than 200 degrees during the 2014-2015 competition season. This designation places the chapter in the top 7.5 percent of teams in the country. This is the fifth year in a row the team has earned membership in the Two Hundred Club!
Below includes information on both events, including individual awards.
Parkway Classic: The team earned 555 points, which was 119 points more than the team who took second place!
The following team members were recognized for their successes:
DOMESTIC EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEAKING
Simi Falako (12) – 2nd
Gabbie Burton (11) – 4th
FOREIGN EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEAKING
Faris Ali (11) – 2nd
Rasika Sant (12) – 3rd
NOVICE EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEAKING
Louisia Yang (09) – 4th
Shawn Pernik (09) – 6th
ORIGINAL ORATORY
Simi Falako (12) – 2nd
Noah DiAntonio – Semifinalist
NOVICE ORIGINAL ORATORY
Audrey Wang (10) – 1st
Audrey was ranked 1st in every round in which she competed.
Olivia Liu – 3rd
RADIO SPEAKING
Rasika Sant (12) – 6th
Huayu Gao (12) – Semifinalist
Panth Shah (11) – Semifinalist
NOVICE RADIO SPEAKING
Claire Golden (09) – 6th
INTERPRETATION
Renee Colby (12) – 5th
NOVICE INTERPRETATION
Ope Falako (10) – 2nd
DUO INTERPRETATION
Gabbie Burton (11) and Noah DiAntonio (11) – 3rd
PROSE READING
Kyrollos Shenouda (12) – 1st
Renee Colby (12) – 5th
Kieran Mulligan (12) – Semifinalist
CONGRESSIONAL DEBATE
Bobby Zitzmann (12) – 1st
Hanlu Jin (12) – Finalist
LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE
Simi Falako (12) – 3rd
NOVICE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE
Claire Golden (09) – won her semifinal round
Audrey Wang (10) – won her semifinal round
Audrey was undefeated in the tournament.
With Claire and Audrey both winning their semifinal rounds, the team “closed out” in Novice Lincoln-Douglas Debate. The final round will be held at Ladue Horton Watkins High School, and the first and second place trophies will be awarded.
POLICY DEBATE
Renee Colby (12) and Hanlu Jin (12) – 2nd
NOVICE POLICY DEBATE
Olivia Liu (09) and Louisia Yang (09) – 1st
Hale Masaki (09) and Kelly Phung (09) – 4th
PUBLIC FORUM DEBATE
Gabbie Burton (11) and Oishi Paul (11) – 3rd place
Gabbie and Oishi were undefeated in preliminary rounds.
Oakville Autumn Congress:
The team won first place in team sweepstakes. The sweepstakes award goes to the team with the most cumulative points based on number of entries, submitting legislation, speech scores, and chamber awards. Thirteen schools and 100 competitors attended the event.
Congratulations to the following students for earning individual awards:
– Simi Falako (12) – 2nd place in her chamber
– Jacob Granick (12) – Permanent Presiding Officer in his chamber
– Hanlu Jin (12) – Permanent Presiding Officer in her chamber
– Bobby Zitzmann (12) – 1st place in his chamber
The team was also represented by Noah DiAntonio (11), Levi Dyson (10), Ope Falako (10), Albert Liu (10), Donovon Moore (09), AJ Oruwari (10), Joji Sherman (09), and Edward Wu (10).
