EHS debaters finish in top 10 at Grand Nationals in May
Special to The Gazette
Monday, June 4, 2007
Emporia High School debaters Mary Yanik and Alex Bonnet finished ninth in policy debate during the NCFL Grand National Speech and Debate Championships in Houston during the Memorial Day weekend.
Students from 572 schools participated in the event.
Yanik’s and Bonnet’s only loss was a split decision to national champions from Rufus King High School of Milwaukee, Wis.
“After preliminary rounds, everything is single elimination,” head coach Scott Bonnet explained.
The pair defeated several prestigious private prep schools in the preliminary rounds before beating Oklahoma City Memorial High in elimination rounds, Bonnet said. This marks the second time in three years that EHS has placed in the top 10 nationally in policy debate.
Emporia High orator Chase Ihde added to the team’s success by finishing 13th in original oration. Orations are memorized 10-minute persuasive speeches on controversial topics of the speaker’s original composition. Ihde’s oration addressed the gay marriage controversy.
Other members of the EHS team that represented the Kansas City region in the tournament included Tom Emley, Gretchen Schreiber, Natalia Barb, and Drew Bonnet. While in Houston the group also attended a touring Broadway play and visited the local museum district.
lynnie_p (anonymous) says...
woohoooooooo way to go EHS so proud of you guys...
June 25, 2007 at 9:37 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )