Needham Speech and Debate Dazzles at At National Qualifiers

The Needham Speech and Debate Team had an outstanding day at the qualifiers for the Grand National Tournament , Saturday, February 7th. Qualifying for the Memorial Day nationals in Washington DC were the duo interpretation of literature team of juniors Zoe Berg and Madeleine Clark, oral interpreter junior Sienna Tow, dramatic performers juniors Vanezah Khan and Miles Yontz, and junior oratory Ayla-Ryann Thompson. This the second consecutive year Berg and Clark have qualified as a team, and the third consecutive qualified appearance for Clark and Yountz. Ninth grader Alice Walters was second alternate in declamation while the duo team of junior Yountz and junior Maggie Sharrard were second alternates in duo, with ninth grader Pj Murray third alternate in oral interpretation, Junior Maddy Weirup was a finalist in Congressional Debate and ninth grader Sabine Richmond dropped her ‘play-in round’ to be kept out of elim in Lincoln-Douglas Debate in her varsity debut.

Berg also qualified in oral interpretation of literature , a spot she relinquished to compete in duo. Other strong performances in speech were evoked by the dynamic declamation entries sophomores Nivinia Sujit and Valentina Welch, and ninth graders Dhanya Deo and Tessa Webb, the dynamo duo teams of ninth graders Aimee Enejo and Juliet Robertson, ninth graders Alina Belekian and Leah Liao,juniors Hari Prasad Kumar and Khan, extemper ninth grader,Zirui Wang,oral interpret Welch and orator Sharrard The two ninth grade duo teams were debuting in duo, (and competing for Belekian and Enejo) and varsity in the case of Wang.

In the debate, events junior Lincoln-Douglas debater Spencer Seidel held an ‘excellently’. record. Novice debaters in their varsity debut included a bevy of ninth graders in their varsity debut. These entries were LD debaters Daniel Choi and Lucas Yountz and Public Forum Debate teams Eli Borgos and Karan Krishnan and their associates Aarna Bhatt and Tyler Nunes.

Judges for Needham included coaches Tyler Bates, Jackson Carr, Greg Cunningham, Adam Nir, and PJ Wexler along with parents Marlana Brogos, Karthak Krishnan, Jeremy Sharrard, Kevin Stephanson, and Tom Welch,

Wexler pronounced how proud he was of the entire Needham delegation.