Debate Places Second in Two Tournaments

Image Courtesy of @smedb84n6

SME Debate placed second out of 21 teams at a Blue Valley North tournament and second out of 16 schools at a Shawnee Mission Northwest tournament over the weekend.

Hazel Carson and Julius von Rautenfeld placed first in the varsity category of the Blue Valley North tournament. Carson and von Rautenfeld’s performance this weekend qualified them for the Debate Coaches’ Invitational which will be held in January.

Top level varsity teams like Carson and von Rautenfeld have been researching and conducting practice debates to prepare for tournaments this season, according to debate coach Trey Witt. Carson felt prepared for the tournament, though she didn’t expect to win first place.

“I wasn’t really nervous going into BVN because I debated with [von Rautenfeld] at debate camp,” Carson said. “I think we were better [than other teams] at framing how the judge should evaluate each round.”

One other team besides Carson and von Rautenfeld, Christopher Munar and Nico Rodriguez-Hanley, also received a bid for the DCI in January by making it to the top 16 of the varsity teams.

This year’s success follows the program’s third consecutive state title won last year. There are teams that can definitely win state this year too, Witt said, despite the impressive caliber of other teams around the area.

Witt is encouraged to see novice debaters as well as varsity teams doing so well in tournaments.

“I try to always have the kids focus on not just the top kids achieving but also making sure the younger kids have a good experience so that they want to stick with [debate],” Witt said. “I think this is a very talented novice group.”

See the full list of teams and placements below.

Blue Valley North – 2nd in Sweeps of 21 schools
* Hazel Carson / Julius Von Rautenfeld- 1st in Varsity. Qualified to DCI (Debate Coaches’ Invitational) in January by making it to finals and earning 2 bids.
* Christopher Munar / Nico Rodriguez-Hanley- 1 DCI bid by making it in the top 16 teams in varsity
* Daniel Hill / Matthew Trecek- 5th/ Quarterfinalists, Open
* Emory Apodaca / Grant Colvin- 3rd/ Semifinalists, Novice
* Will Green / Evan Winden- 5th/ Quarterfinalists, Novice
* Daniel Hill, 4th Speaker in Open
* Lucy Brock, 2nd Speaker in Novice
* Hannah Hobert, 10th Speaker in Novice
* Hannah Hobert / Liberty Bennion, 3-2 in Novice
Shawnee Mission Northwest – 2nd in Sweeps of 16 schools
* Lukas Knopke / Sean Battey, 3rd in Novice, 4-1
* Ashley Eddy / Alyssa Gardner, 4-1 in Novice
* Logan Cleaver, 4-1 in Novice
* Sophia Thuenneman / Sophia Kotar, 3-2 in Novice
Olathe South
* Ian Gould / Kyle Battey, 4th in Novice, 4-1
* Grace Menninger / Grace Reber, 3-2 in Novice