During Halloween weekend, a group of Bells competed virtually at the Florida Blue Key Invitational Speech and Debate Tournament, going up against students from across the country. Aaron Langerman ’11, head coach, noted, “Even though most of our seniors sat this weekend out to finish their college apps, our team had very impressive depth and breadth, with students breaking to late elimination rounds in every event we were entered in!” Next for policy debaters is the virtual competition at the University of Michigan, followed by the next league debate tournament and then the Glenbrooks Invitational.
Congratulations to all the coaches and to the following Bellarmine students on their results:
Original Oratory:
- Saketh Dasaradhi ’24 – 1st PLACE CHAMPION! “Super impressive as a sophomore and he is now fully qualified to the Tournament of Champions (TOC)!” noted coach Langerman.
- Alex Grabowski ’23 – quarterfinalist
Congressional Debate:
- Jason Cappelloni ’22 –13th place, finalist
- Varun Vemulapalli ’23 – semifinalist – Varun is now fully qualified to the Tournament of Champions in April!
Extemp:
- Francis Olakangil ’23 – semifinalist
- Joseph Thomas ’23 – semifinalist
- Rohit Vakkalagadda ’24 – semifinalist – Rohit is now fully qualified to the TOC!
- Anthony Reynolds ’22 – quarterfinalist
- Kush Narang ’22 – quarterfinalist
- Ani Mani ’23 – quarterfinalist
Informative/Expository Speaking:
- Owen Botkin ’23 – semifinalist
- Gavin Griffin ’24 – quarterfinalist
Lincoln-Douglas Debate:
- Arshon Keyani ’23 – double octofinalist
Humorous Interpretation:
- Finbarr Donovan ’22 – semifinalist
- Tyler Chin ’24 – semifinalist
Duo Interpretation:
- Devansh Bansal ’22 and Finbarr Donovan ’22 – 2nd place, finalists
Program Oral Interpretation (POI):
- Devansh Bansal ’22 – semifinalist