2017 Long Beach Invitational

Last weekend, the Archbishop Mitty Speech and Debate Team began their 2017-2018 season with a trip to Long Beach to compete at the nationally recognized Jack Howe Memorial Invitational. With 54 students on the trip, this marked the largest group ever to attend a speech and debate travel tournament. Following two weeks of blitzes with countless practice rounds and time checks, the students came together as a group to partake in an evening of skits and friendly competition.

Friday afternoon came and we were off to SoCal! During the 8 hour bus ride, students played games, finished up their cases and put final touches on their pieces.

After a lunch on the road and a pizza party late night at the hotel, we gathered in the lobby to receive our first set of tangible metaphors from our teammates. After a quick motivational talk from Mrs. Cruz, we all went to bed, ready for an exciting first day of competition.

Early Saturday morning, the 27 debaters assembled in the lobby to make it to their early 8AM round. Speech members wished the debaters good luck as they left and began getting ready for their later start time at noon. Of course through all of this, we didn’t forget to take pictures!

After an exhausting day, with 5 rounds for every debate event and 3 preliminary rounds for every speech event, the competitors returned to the hotel anxiously waiting for breaks to be revealed. The results were in! MSD had 27 speech students advance to the semifinal round!!

Early Sunday morning, the debaters competed in their 6th preliminary round. Following this round, Public Forum had 3 teams break to Double Octofinals (Top 32 teams) and Parliamentary Debate had ALL FOUR TEAMS break straight to octofinals. (Top 16 Teams). Amazing job to all the debaters!

Following a tough semifinal round the speech pool narrowed from the top 14 to the top 7. Of the 27 students that made it to semifinals, we had 16 students break to the final round of competition!

After one more final round in speech, it was time for awards! Congratulations to the following students who were recognized at the awards ceremony:

PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE

Rahul Ramakrishnan & Vedant Vamshidhar (Semi Finalist Team)

Aayush Sutaria & Anish Patel (Octofinalist Team)

Jon Telebrico & Mayank Killedar (Octofinalist Team)

Helena Getayalew & Roksana Gorgolewski (Octofinalist Team)

2nd Best Speaker - Aayush Sutaria

6th Best Speaker - Helena Getayalew

PUBLIC FORUM DEBATE

Mukil Pari & Tushar Agashe (Quarter Finalist Team)

Shriya Nandwani & Amit Ahluwalia (Double Octofinalist Team)

Amun Asnani & Saumil Thakore (Double Octofinalist Team)

5th Best Speaker - Mukil Pari

DRAMATIC INTERP

Amelia Whitney (2nd)

Conor Sherry (5th)

Shanaya Sales (Semi Finalist)

Maddie Davis (Semi Finalist)

Max Slade (Semi Finalist)

DUO INTERP

**Conor Sherry & Amelia Whitney (1st)**

Maddie Davis & Shanaya Sales (2nd)

Naman Dandia & Julian Sanghvi (6th)

Jake Ledger & Liv Monroy (Semi Finalist)

Keili Fitzgerald & Suroor Nakhoda (Semi Finalist)

EXPOSITORY SPEAKING

Maddie Whalen (2nd)

Kritika Yerrapotu (3rd)

Riya Dhoopar (5th)

Priya Ravi (6th)

Keili Fitzgerald (7th)

HUMOROUS INTERP

Liv Monroy (3rd)

Emma Skeet (4th)

Naman Dandia (Semi Finalist)

ORIGINAL ADVOCACY

**Heather Cherniss (1st)**

ORIGINAL PROSE & POETRY

**Max Slade (1st)**

Suroor Nakhoda (2nd)

THEMATIC INTERP

Aneri Bhatt (Semi Finalist)

As a team, we did amazing! Mitty placed 3rd in Debate as a school and 1st in Speech as a school. In overall sweepstakes, MSD placed FIRST out of more than 140 schools! Congratulations everyone! Special thanks to alumni Erica Johnson for coming to support the team! 

After the tournament wrapped up, the entire group went to Glow Zone for some post-tournament fun. This included mini-golf, bowling, bumper cars, obstacle courses and TONS more!! Everyone had an amazing time and made memories with all their teammates.

The next morning everyone had breakfast together and we began our bus ride back to San Jose filled with excitement and memories to share with the rest of the team. We wanted to extend a HUGE thank you to parents, Mrs. Whalen, Mrs. Korb and Mrs. Whitney for chaperoning and judging over the weekend. Also a huge thank you to our coaches, Mr. Ko, Mr. Woodhead, Mr. Cruz and Mrs. Cruz! None of this would be possible without your constant support and guidance.

With the Long Beach Invitational behind us, it’s now time to switch gears and get ready for our upcoming league speech and debate competitions in October and November. We can’t wait for all that’s to come during the rest of the season!!

2017 NSDA National Tournament

After capturing our second California State Championship in April, the Mitty Speech and Debate team travelled to Birmingham, Alabama for the 2017 National Speech and Debate Tournament. Let’s take a look at our journey…

Immediately after graduation, we began meeting to cut new scripts, block new pieces, put together new cases and rehearse our speeches. After two weeks of blitzes, team members surprised us with an Ice Cream Party and care packages to send us off!

Competitors met at San Jose Airport on Saturday morning to catch their flight to Atlanta. After landing in Atlanta and making the quick journey to Birmingham, we got to our hotel.

Early the next day, we went to the Sheraton Hotel for tournament registration as well as to the grocery store to stock up on tournament snacks.

The night before preliminary rounds saw some inspirational talks by the coaches as well as some well thought out, personalized tangible metaphors made by Lucas! Not only that, but the parents sent us a thoughtful Edible Arrangements gift as well. 

On Monday morning we had four preliminary rounds followed by two more preliminary rounds on Tuesday.

Everyone put energy, passion and poise into each of their rounds and now it was time to see the results. Cutting from the top 240 in the nation all the way down to the top 60, the breaks were tough, however MSD did outstanding. The breaks to octo-finals were as follows:

In Dramatic Interpretation: Erica Johnson

In Humorous Interpretation: Arjun Biju

In Duo Interpretation: Pranavi Javangula and Esha Bhatia

In Original Oratory: Lucas Kernan

In Program Oral Interpretation: Conor Sherry

In International Extemporaneous: Eshan Gupta and Akaash Tawade

In Public Forum Debate: Koji Flynn-Do and Jolie Leung

After two tough octofinal rounds, the competition pool narrowed from the top 60 to the top 30. We were left with 3 national quarterfinalists!!... 

In Original Oratory: Lucas Kernan

In Program Oral Interpretation: Conor Sherry

In International Extemporaneous: Akaash Tawade

In Public Forum Debate, Koji Flynn-Do and Jolie Leung, also made it to round 9 on Wednesday morning.

Following two more quarterfinal rounds on Wednesday and incredible performances by the three quarterfinalists, the breaks to national semifinals (Top 14) were announced. We emerged with our national semifinalist... 

In Program Oral Interpretation: Conor Sherry

Koji and Jolie also continued their run in Public Forum remaining in competition until Round 13 on Thursday morning!

On Thursday afternoon, the team made a quick run to Build-a-Bear Workshop. Following Nationals tradition, every competitor made their own bear to remind them of this tournament or the piece that they delivered.

Oh, and don’t think we didn’t have amazing food all along the way! We had everything from Thai food to Barbeque Chicken as well as some yummy cake for Koji’s birthday.

Starting Thursday, final rounds began at the Birmingham Concert Hall. The team, along with hundreds of other students, watched the incredible Interp final rounds all of Thursday evening.

After watching debate final rounds as a team on Friday afternoon, the much anticipated awards ceremony began in the evening. At the awards ceremony, Mitty Speech and Debate was given the highest possible award – The School of Outstanding Distinction Award. This means that for the THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR, MSD was one of the Top 10 Speech and Debate Schools in the nation. In addition to an incredible team showing, individual results were as follows:

Dramatic Interpretation:
Octofinalist (Top 60) – Erica Johnson

Duo Interpretation:
Octofinalists (Top 60) – Pranavi Javangula and Esha Bhatia

Humorous Interpretation:
Octofinalist (Top 60) – Arjun Biju

Program Oral Interpretation:
10th – Conor Sherry

International Extemporaneous:
Quarterfinalist (Top 30) – Akaash Tawade
Octofinalist (Top 60) – Eshan Gupta

Original Oratory:
Quarterfinalist (Top 30) – Lucas Kernan

Public Forum Debate:
9th place -  Koji Flynn-Do & Jolie Leung

With the tournament now behind them, the team took a Saturday morning flight back home where they were greeted by family and friends. A truly amazing way to end the week. A huge thank you to everyone who came out and welcomed us – the support and love means the world.

The end of the national tournament marked the official end to the 2016-2017 season. A final thank you to everyone who has supported us through the entire journey – friends, family, teammates, teachers, coaches and the Mitty administration. We are excited to build upon all that we have learned this year to come out even stronger next year. Even more however, we hope to continue fostering our relationships and learning more of the meaningful lessons that this activity has to offer. 

2017 CHSSA State Tournament

After four state qualifying tournaments, the team was ready to defend their state title at the 2017 CHSSA State Tournament in Arcadia, California! With 46 competitors - the most in the Coast Forensics League as well as the most in MSD history - we were ready for what was to come! Let’s take a look at how it all went down… 

In the weeks leading up to the tournament, we practiced during class and after school almost daily – working hard on our pieces and our cases. 

The week of the tournament brought the always fun, Parent Potluck. All 46 competitors and their families met for amazing food and game night where every competitor also took a few minutes to talk about what Speech and Debate meant for them. We also found out our State Rooming Buddies and Sweethearts as well! A HUGE thank you to the Lewis family for hosting this memorable event! 

After weeks of anticipation, the day had come for the team to head to Southern California for the tournament. After two stops and a delicious dinner with our State Sweethearts, we arrived at the hotel the night before our first rounds of competition.  

Following MSD tradition, Senior Speeches were given by every graduating senior. The speeches were broadcast on Instagram so the entire team back home could enjoy the reflections live. Each speech left everyone energized and thankful for this activity. 

Before day one of competition, everyone was given their tangible metaphors for the weekend. Each competitor was given a bag with notes from their peers which served to truly pump everyone up the night before. Thanks to everyone who wrote the kind words and gave us the cute gifts!

The next two days brought the preliminary rounds of competition in both speech and debate. After more than a hundred combined preliminary rounds by the team, it was time for the breaks to semifinals in speech. With a difficult cut from the top 56 competitors to the top 18, the night was emotional, but the breaks, as always, were phenomenal:

Semifinalists in International Extemporaneous: Eshan Gupta and Mukil Pari

Semifinalists in National Extemporaneous: Charlie Pyle and Rahul Devarapalli

Semifinalist in Impromptu: Vedant Vamshidhar

Semifinalist in Original Advocacy: Darya Kaviani

Semifinalist in Original Oratory: Cassie Korb

Semifinalists in Dramatic Interpretation: Conor Sherry, Erica Johnson and Shanaya Sales

Semifinalists in Humorous Interpretation: Amelia Whitney, John Lahey and Julian Sanghvi

Semifinalists in Oratorical Interpretation: Draigh Ricketson and Anna Wymbs

Semifinalists in Thematic Interpretation: Colin Anderson, Nkem Nnam, Emma Skeet and Madelyn Davis

Semifinalists in Duo Interpretation: Pranavi Javangula and Esha Bhatia, Naman Dandia and Jake Ledger

Semifinalists in Original Prose and Poetry: Paige Decena and Fiona Pestana

Semifinalists in Congressional Debate: Siddhant Gannu

Also, Congratulations to the following debate teams:

Anish Patel and Aayush Sutaria for advancing to Round 4 in Parliamentary Debate.

Arushi Lahiri and Kirthi Ponuswammy for advancing to Round 4 in Policy Debate.

Murad Awad and Liyang Chen for advancing to Round 5 in Policy Debate.

Eshan Gupta and Aditi Chatradhi for advancing to Round 6 in Policy Debate.

Darya Kaviani and Roshni Varma for advancing to Round 6 in Public Forum Debate. 

After a difficult semifinal round the next morning, the team gathered in a circle to find out who our 2017 state finalists would be! After a difficult cut from the top 18 competitors to the top 7, the following were MSD state finalists: 

Original Oratory Finalist: Cassandra Korb

Humorous Interpretation Finalist: Amelia Whitney

Oratorical Interpretation Finalist: Draigh Ricketson

Dramatic Interpretation Finalist: Erica Johnson

Thematic Interpretation Finalists: Colin Anderson and Madelyn Davis

Duo Interpretation Finalist: Pranavi Javangula and Esha Bhatia

Congressional Debate Finalist: Siddhant Gannu

Public Forum Finalists: Koji Flynn-Do and Jolie Leung

After all the finalists gave incredible performances with passion and energy, it now came time for awards! After 3 days of intense competition, congratulations to ALL the competitors. The full results…

Dramatic Interpretation:
3rd place - Erica Johnson

8th place - Conor Sherry

9th place - Shanaya Sales

Duo Interpretation:
1st place - Pranavi Javangula and Esha Bhatia

11th place - Jake Ledger and Naman Dandia

Humorous Interpretation:
4th place - Amelia Whitney

14th place - Julian Sanghvi

17th place - John Lahey

Impromptu:
14th place - Vedant Vamshidhar

International Extemporaneous:
9th place - Eshan Gupta

12th place - Mukil Pari

National Extemporaneous:
12th place - Charlie Pyle

18th place - Rahul Devarapalli

Oratorical Interpretation:
4th place - Draigh Ricketson

13th place - Anna Wymbs

Original Advocacy:
9th place - Darya Kaviani

Original Prose and Poetry:
8th place - Fiona Pestana

9th place - Paige Decena

Original Oratory:

7th place - Cassandra Korb

Thematic Interpretation:
1st place - Madelyn Davis

3rd place - Colin Anderson

10th place - Emma Skeet

18th place - Nkem Nnam

Congressional Debate:
2nd place - Siddhant Gannu

Policy Debate:

8th place - Eshan Gupta & Aditi Chatradhi

13th place - Murad Awad & Liyang Chen

Public Forum Debate:

2nd place - Koji Flynn-Do & Jolie Leung

8th place - Darya Kaviani & Roshni Varma

Team Sweepstakes:
1st place - Archbishop Mitty

At the end of the day, we emerged with TWO STATE CHAMPIONS! Junior Madelyn Davis in Thematic Interpretation as well as Junior Esha Bhatia and Senior Pranavi Javangula in Duo Interpretation. In addition, Mitty Speech and Debate defended their state title and for the second consecutive year, were named the TOP Speech and Debate school in California!! 

After the awards ceremony, the team headed to Dave and Busters for a bit of post awards fun – food, games, dancing and team bonding!

The next morning, the team headed back home with smiles on their faces and unforgettable memories. A huge thank you for those who made this possible – family, friends, teachers, coaches and the Mitty administration. This wouldn’t have been possible without the constant love, support and guidance.