On Thursday, February 18, and Saturday, February 20, Harriton Speech and Debate competed at the District tournament, with an abundance of competitors qualifying for the State Tournament for both Speech and Debate.

The Debate Team will send seven people to States, representing three different types of debate. Lincoln Douglas senior co-captains Tristan Fogt and Maddie Feldman placed first and second respectively in their event. Senior co-captains Lauren Mendelsohn, Emily Rush, and Laney O’Shea will represent parliamentary Debate. Also, Evan Rhodes and Chloe Niu will be competing in Policy Debate at the State Tournament.

Meanwhile, the Speech Team dominated the other schools in the District on Saturday, with several people from various events qualifying for States. In many events, Harriton claimed both spots to sweep the event. In Commentary, Andrew Blender and Keren Katz placed first and second. In Congress, Leela Raj came in first place with a convincing vote. Parth Shukla and Asia Carter swept Dramatic Interpretation, placing first and second respectively. Nate Rush and Noah Karpel wowed the judges with their Duo Interpretation performance of a scene from “The Lion King.” Ben Feldman and Charlie Akerblom took first and second place in Extemporaneous Speaking. Veronica Fenton qualified for Persuasive Speaking, while Andrew Kofsky qualified for Informative Speaking. In Humorous Interpretation, Dayita Sharma was most certainly humorous. Last but not least, Sholeh Masoudnia made the cut for Poetry. Shout outs go out to Nick Wert and Emma Finn, who will serve as alternates in their events.

The Banner reached out to Maddie Feldman, one of the senior co-captains of Lincoln Douglas Debate, about how the whole experience was at Districts. She said, “Everyone worked so hard this entire year. We’re thrilled with the turnout – it’s Harriton’s biggest state entry. So many people qualified and it was well deserved. I’m so glad to end my four years on the team on such a high note.” She echoes the sentiment of the other seniors, who will be greatly missed, but appreciated for their contributions.

While the regular season is over for Speech and Debate, they will be training hard to prepare for the State Competition, which will be held at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, on March 20 and 21. Please be sure to congratulate your Harriton representatives and wish them the best of luck as they look to bring home more wins!