MSD Shines on the National Stage
At the 2026 National Speech and Debate Tournament in Richmond, Virginia, MSD won the prestigious School of Outstanding Distinction for the ninth time, the top overall school award given to the 10 best teams in the nation.
National Champions
1st Place · Duo Interpretation
Avi Gupta '26 and Kostantina Bala '27
Avi and Kostantina were named National Champions after winning first place in Duo Interpretation, joining alumnus Conor Sherry '19 among the program's all-time National Champions.
Awards Ceremony Honorees
A special congratulations to the students recognized during the national awards ceremony.
2nd Place
Samaira Mehta '26
Original Oratory
3rd Place
Chloe Lee '26 and Natalie Kim '27
Duo Interpretation
3rd Place · Leadership Bowl Winner
Chaith Mittal '26
Congressional Debate: House
2nd Speaker
Param Raval '27
Lincoln-Douglas Debate
8th Place
Deepika Sujay '27
United States Extemporaneous Speaking
8th Place
Dhruv Mallick '26 and Jordan Daniher '26
Policy Debate
15th Place
Saanvi Handigund '27
Dramatic Interpretation
15th Place
Nikethana Karthikeyan '27
Humorous Interpretation
19th Place
Siddharth Belegere '26
International Extemporaneous Speaking
20th Place
Braden Clements '26
Informative Speaking
21st Place
Keerthi Iyer '28 and Allison Downey '29
Policy Debate
24th Place
Siyona Kher '27
International Extemporaneous Speaking
28th Place
Dhruva Pappu '26
Dramatic Interpretation
30th Place
Param Raval '27
Lincoln-Douglas Debate
Quarterfinalist
Neil Huang '27
Congressional Debate: House
32nd Place
Nithin Mahesh Chakravarthy '27 and Shayan Umair '27
Duo Interpretation
36th Place
Tisha Prasad '27
Informative Speaking
36th Place
Leon Crisan '28
Program Oral Interpretation
42nd Place
Maanika Nambudiri
Informative Speaking
43rd Place
Lucas Kwok '27 and Dhanyaa Chakravarthy '29
Public Forum Debate
