The first two weeks of March greeted the Carlsbad High School Speech and Debate team with another well-deserved sweepstake.
The State Qualification for individuals events, speeches and interpretations took place on the CHS campus March 4-5. Carlsbad dominated in Extemporaneous and Expository Speaking, both spontaneous and prepared events where students performed a speech to perform in front of judges.
In the category of Extemp, all seven finalists were from Carlsbad High, ensuring four students will go on to the state tournament. Senior Yujia Pan, sophomore Masami Amakawa, freshman Izzy Viney and freshman Emma Wood all placed in the top seven for expository speaking, a speech involving the use of informative posters.
“The tension increases as the tournament goes on, but it is very rewarding,” Amakawa said.
As the most significant tournament of the year, this was the event where many brought out their best, having reflected upon their weaknesses and improving throughout the year. Placing as one of the four finalists, guaranteed a chance to further compete at the State level.
“Before, it is kind of nerve-wrecking because it is the State Tournament but during, it feels really normal,” freshman Emma Wood said.
The competition opened many new opportunities for underclassmen who will be advancing to the state tournament and for seniors, it was a special as well as a memorable moment.
“I think the fact that it was the last league tournament, it makes it very special since it will be the last time standing in front of the award ceremony table,” senior Yujia Pan said. “It’s sad but I’m also happy to see how far we’ve come.”
The tournament also served to recognize other debater’s and performer’s achievements: senior Devin McDaniel won Speaker of the Year; junior Davin Curtis won Overall Competitor of the Year and freshman Louisa Coelho won the Most Sweepstakes Awards.
To many students, Speech and Debate has become much more than a class or an extracurricular activity. The students’ cheers at the tournament only prove the enormous impact of this experience. They have built a strong reputation for CHS and qualifiers will proudly represent SDIVSL (San Diego/Imperial Valley Speech League) at the next upcoming tournament.
