The LHWHS Speech & Debate Team will send seven students to the National Speech & Debate Association National Tournament following a strong showing at the district tournament March 17-19.
LHWHS took 1st place in Overall Sweepstakes and Debate Sweepstakes, as well as 3rd place in both Speech Sweepstakes and Congressional Debate Sweepstakes at the Eastern Missouri District Tournament.
The following students have qualified for the national tournament June 12-17 in Louisville:
- Oviya Srihari (12) – Lincoln-Douglas Debate, undefeated District Champion
(Oviya was also named District Champion in Program Oral Interpretation and took 4th place in Congressional Debate – House) - Daniel Xu (12) and Allen You (11) – Policy Debate, 2nd place
(Daniel also placed 4th in Program Oral Interpretation and was named the Permanent Presiding Officer in Congressional Debate – House) - Nevin Song (12) and Ryan Tung (12) – Public Forum Debate, 2nd place
(Nevin also placed 4th in International Extemporaneous Speaking. Ryan also placed 3rd in United States Extemporaneous Speaking and 2nd in Congressional Debate – House) - Marissa Mathieson (12) – Congressional Debate – House
- Artur Breternitz (11) – Informative Speaking, 3rd place
Both Aditi Navjith (11) and Shreeya Ravindranath (11) were also selected to attend and compete in the national tournament in supplemental events.
Additionally, the following students were also recognized for their achievements at the district tournament:
- Lillian Chen (11) and Erica Shi (11) – Duo Interpretation, 6th place
- Adi Agarwal (11) – Permanent Presiding Officer in Congressional Debate – Senate
The Talking Rams were also named the recipients of the 2022 Leading Chapter Award for Eastern Missouri by the National Speech and Debate Association.
This award recognizes the dedication, work ethic, and competitive success of many team members over the past 10 years.
Three members of the LHWHS community also were recognized with special awards at the district tournament:
- Casie Sambo, assistant coach and LHWHS math teacher, was named the 2022 Eastern Missouri Assistant Coach of the Year
- Jasmine Huda, 1997 LHWHS alumna and Fox2 news anchor and reporter, was given the 2022 Eastern Missouri Alumni Achievement Award
- Oviya Srihari, LHWHS senior, was named the 2022 Eastern Missouri Student of the Year