HHS Debate Team Launches Competitive New Season

The Harrison High School Debate team hit the ground running – or speaking - as the case may be. After another successful year and seniors moving on to the collegiate level, the 2017-18 HHS Debate team began their year at the summer’s Global Debate Symposium at Colorado College in Colorado Springs. Together the team, along with coach and GDS instructor Chetan Hertizg, were able to learn how to break down complex texts and gain instruction from some of the best debaters and instructors in the country.

The team began their competitive season, which runs through May, at the Byram Hills Invitational in early September. Lauren Cole reached the semifinals of the tournament and cleared as the tournament's 4th seed. Carl Spana reached the quarterfinals, where he was eliminated on a close 2-1 decision; Carl was also the tournament's 2nd speaker and 3rd seed. Ethan Voskoff not only cleared as the 5th seed, but won an elimination round at his first varsity tournament. Ethan also reached the quarterfinals, where he was coached over by Lauren based on seeding. Rounding out the sophomore crew were Matthew Repecki, Ava Zinman, and Daiana Djangaracheva, all of whom did a great job at their first varsity tournament.

The HHS debate captains Carl and Lauren also competed at the Byram Hills Round Robin. Carl made it to the final round after winning his pod with a 5-1 ballot count and ultimately placed second, becoming the second consecutive Harrison debater to reach finals of the Byram Hills Round Robin. Prior to that,

The team showed their strength the next weekend at both the Yale and Greenhill Texas tournaments. At Greenhill, which included 112 Lincoln-Douglas debaters from around the country, Carl cleared to elimination rounds; he was eliminated in double-octos on a close 2-1 decision, placing in the top 25 overall. Lauren just missed clearing after being pulled up to debate the tournament runner-up in a tough bubble round. Ava Zinman did great work at her first national circuit tournament, winning rounds against tough competition. Lauren also represented the team at the Greenhill Round Robin, becoming the sixth Harrison debater to hold that honor.

At Yale, Daiana Djangaracheva reached the quarterfinals of the JV Lincoln-Douglas division after being 5-1 in prelims and clearing as the 8th seed; Daiana placed 8th out of 92 JVers. Matthew Repecki also was 5-1 in prelims, reaching double-octofinals, while Ethan Voskoff was 4-2 and 33rd seed, missing clearing by a fraction of a speaker point. In varsity, Eli Lapkin and Matt Wilson held their own with solid 3-3 records, and Justin Wilson had a strong showing as well.

HHS Debate team captains Lauren and Ethan Voskoff turned in great performances at Valley High School's national Mid-America Cup invitational in West Des Moines, Iowa. Valley's tournament is one of the most competitive in the country and this year's Lincoln-Douglas debate field featured 97 debaters from states as wide-ranging as Florida, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Texas, Washington, California, Massachusetts, Georgia, Oregon, North Carolina, and Indiana, among others.

Out of that group, Lauren placed 10th overall, receiving her first TOC bid of the year and reaching octofinals. Lauren was 5-1 in prelims, and was 9th speaker. This is the first time Lauren has earned a bid at an octos bid tournament. Ethan had a strong 3-3 record, an impressive run for his first varsity bid tournament. Prior to the tournament, Lauren competed in the Valley Round Robin and Ethan competed in the Sophomore Throw-Down Round Robin. Both had impressive records, taking ballots off of some of the top competition in the country.