Two local students seniors head to national speech competition

D. Asmi- Mustangs Ahead

(LAKEWOOD RANCH, FL)- Lakewood Ranch High Sch0ol (LRHS) seniors Haley McMann and Logan Scott both qualified in a national speech and debate competition.

"It’s very exciting that we’re qualifying because we’re very new at this, we’re very self-taught, there’s a lot of pride in there,” McMann said.

They competed in multiple tournaments in the year. They compete in the Florida Gulf Coast Catholic Forensics League (FGCCFL).

The LRHS Speech and Debate Club has competed through them before, but this is McMann and Scott’s first year competing through them individually

“We’re really excited we are able to have two people qualify on our first year of competing,” Scott added.

They competed on Saturday, Feb. 24 at Northeast High School in St. Petersburg.

“This particular event was the FGCCGL Grand Finals with 16 schools and 153 total competitors,” club advisor and English teacher Mike Pomposi said.

Both students entered the regional final in St. Petersburg by gathering enough points from all their tournaments this year to compete. They needed this, along with scoring in the top six, to qualify for Nationals.

Both competed in speech events, not debates.

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Out of 14 places, McMann placed fifth place and Scott placed sixth.

LRHS had four students compete in the competition.

This is McMann’s second year in the Speech and Debate club at LRHS. Scott is currently vice president.

“I'm excited and I’m looking forward to the national competition in May. It took a lot of hard work and I feel like we really came together as a team,” Scott said.

Both have had some experience competing in speech and debate competitions.

“This is the second year LRHS has had the club. Last year I was a junior, we didn’t really do much and kind of did in-school mock debates, McMann said.

“This year is our first year in competition,” McMann added.

Nationals are going to be in Chicago during the summer, according to Pomposi.

“The club is open to everyone, all grade levels. It’s not as scary as it might sound, you think that 'ugh speech and debate is going to be difficult' but we’re all new at this, and every one of us will tell everyone about how much fun we’re having,” McMann said.

“Highly recommend Mustangs check out the team, it’s a great way to meet new people. All the people at the debate competitions are super outgoing, super extroverted. It’s an amazing environment to learn about policy,” Scott added.