The National Speech and Debate Association recently ranked the Academy team number one in New Mexico, a determination based on points. The achievement follows a string of successes in January.
At the Arizona State University tournament, Brianna Xie ’21 and Evelyn Nguyen ’21 placed 5th in Duo, and Carolyn Wang ’19 took 3rd in Prose, 2nd in Poetry, and 1st in Original Oratory. Alex Thomas ’20, Bella Jaramillo ’20, Sofia Wolinkski ’22, Sara Perez ’22, Zach Auster ’20, Moira Tanedo ’20, Nicole Hunter ’19, and Kira Small ’22 advanced to quarterfinal and semifinal rounds.
At the West Mesa Speech Tournament, Kira Small ’22 placed 1st in Dramatic Interpretation and 2nd in Program Oral Interpretation; Huzefa Saria ’19 took 1st in Humorous Interpretation and 3rd in Dramatic Interpretation; Valeria Germanova ’20 placed 3rd in Program Oral Interpretation; Adeeb Khan ’22, Gabriel Sandoval ’19, and Nikita Jaiswal ’19 made it to the finals in International Extemp; and Carter Elias ’21 placed 3rd in Domestic Extemp.
The Academy team won in a landslide at the La Cueva High School Cave Classic, an event attended by nearly every team in New Mexico as well as some from Colorado. In Novice Lincoln Douglas Debate, Naima Pyarali ’22 placed 1st; in Varsity Lincoln Douglas Debate, Lily Nakakura ’22 won 1st place. In Novice Public Forum Debate, a pairs event, Noor Ali ’23 and Ankit Jaiswal ’22 placed 3rd, Alex Thomas ’20 and Bella Jaramillo ’20 placed 2nd, and Sara Perez ’22 and Sofia Wolinski ’22 took 1st. In Varsity Public Forum Debate, Stephanie Rifkin ’19 and Sophie Carroll ’19 took 2nd place, while Shea Fitzgerald ’19 and Sierra Romero ’20 took 1st. In Varsity Policy Debate, Milton Rosenbaum ’20 and Ethan Richardson ’21 took 2nd, and Nikita Jaiswal ’19 and Akshay Warrier ’19 placed 1st. In Dramatic Interpretation, Huzefa Saria ’19 placed 3rd and Addison Fulton ’22 placed 1st. In Humorous Interpretation, Huzefa Saria ’19 made it to the finals, Alina Vulcan ’19 placed 3rd, and Evelyn Nguyen ’21 placed 1st. Brianna Xie ’21 and Evelyn Nguyen ’21 took 3rd in Duo. Sarah Wang ’21 advanced to the finals in Informative Speaking, Carolyn Wang ’19 won 1st place in Original Oratory, and Carter Elias ’21 won 1st place in Domestic Extemp.
At the New Mexico State Congress Tournament, Ankit Jaiswal ’22 took 5th place and Sofia Wolinksi ’22 took 4th in Novice Congressional Debate. In Varsity Congressional Debate, Carter Elias ’21 advanced to the final round, and Zach Auster ’20 took 4th place.
The same weekend as the state tournament, some of the team took part in the Barkley Tournament, an extremely competitive event for which participants must qualify. Kira Small ’22 advanced to the quarterfinals in Program Oral Interpretation and to the semifinals in Dramatic Interpretation. Evelyn Nguyen ’21 made it to the semifinals in Humorous Interpretation, and Carolyn Wang ’19 to the semifinals in Original Oratory.
