For the third year in a row, the Bellarmine Speech and Debate Team has won the State Championship.
“After winning the past two years, our backs were definitely against the wall,” noted head Speech and Debate coach Aaron Langerman. “Two of our biggest rivals – Archbishop Mitty and James Logan – had more entries than us coming into the tournament. Bell had 38 entries, Mitty at 45, and Logan had 44. With the state tournament getting rid of double-entry (i.e., students could not be double-entered in both speech and debate), our victory was far from assured.”
The California High School Speech Association (CHSSA) State Championship tournament was held April 12-14 at Clovis North High School near Fresno.
Next up for the Bells: more than 20 students will travel to Kentucky on April 19 to compete in the Tournament of Champions.
Congratulations to all the Speech and Debate team members, and their coaches: Aaron Langerman, DeeDee Sullivan, Matt DeLateur, Xavier Liu, and Vern Cleary.