HHS Debate Team Notches Nine Wins Through December

The Harrison High School Debate team completed the first half of their competitive season by celebrating with their ninth win.

On December 16th, Harrison won both the JV and novice Lincoln-Douglas divisions of the 2018 Regis Christmas “Chlassic” Tournament at Regis High School.

In the JV division, Harrison took the first four spots, with 6 of the top 10 finishes. Sophomore Giovanni Cutri was the tournament champion and gained first tournament win of the season. Sophomores Molly Ryan placed 2nd , Anthony Kang placed 3rd , Sonali Nicola placed 4th, and Rebecca Anderson placed 6th. Giovanni, Molly, and Anthony were all undefeated in the tournament.

In the novice division, freshman Luka Safar was the tournament champion in his first tournament win of the season as well. Milly Wong placed 3rd and Lizzie Murno placed 6th. Luka, Milly, and Lizzie were all undefeated as well.

On December 9th, freshman Ali Ahmad captured the HHS Debate team’s 7th tournament win by being crowned the novice tournament champion at the 2018 Ridge Debates at Ridge High School in New Jersey. Ali dropped only two ballots in the entire tournament and won his quarterfinal, semifinal, and final rounds on 3-0 decisions. Ali was also 2nd speaker in the novice division. This marks his second tournament win this season.

Also in novice, freshman Gabe Voskoff reached quarterfinals, where he was eliminated on a close 2-1 decision, placing 6th overall. Gabe was top speaker in the novice division. Additionally, freshman Lizzie Murno reached octofinals, placing 13th overall. Lizzie was also 6th novice speaker.

The Harrison High School Debate team had a terrific showing at the 2018 Princeton Classic at Princeton University on December 1-2. In a field of over 130 varsity Lincoln-Douglas debaters and over 70 novices, Harrison had the 4th place varsity debater, the 3rd place novice, and earned two more TOC bids, bringing the current team bid count to 8.

In varsity, senior Eli Lapkin reached semifinals, earning his third bid to date. Also in varsity, sophomore Molly Ryan earned the first TOC bid of her career, reaching quarterfinals before being coached over by Eli based on seeding. Molly is the first Harrison sophomore to earn a TOC bid since 2015.

In novice, freshman Ali Ahmad reached semifinals, placing 3rd overall. Freshman Mai Blaustein reached octofinals; she and Ali were both 5-1 in prelims, and Mai was 10th novice speaker.

Before the Thanksgiving break, the Harrison High School Debate team traveled to Illinois and Minnesota as well as to the prestigious tournament at Bronx Science with outstanding results.

The Harrison High School Debate Team had a fantastic showing at the Glenbrooks, widely regarded as the most competitive regular-season national debate championship. Harrison won the JV LD division of the tournament, had three of the top 8 JV LD competitors, and earned its sixth TOC bid of the season in varsity.

Sophomore Molly Ryan was the JV LD champion, winning the final round on a 3-0 decision. Molly was 5-1 in prelims, and was 3rd JV speaker. This marks the first time Harrison has won the JV LD division of Glenbrooks, the third time a Harrison debater has been in semifinals of that division, and the sixth time Harrison has won a tournament this year. It was also the third time Molly has been in a final round this year and the second time a member of the Ryan family has reached the final round of a division of the Glenbrooks.

Also in JV, sophomores Rebecca Anderson and Anthony Kang reached quarterfinals (the top 8); Anthony was eliminated on a close 2-1 decision. Rebecca was 5-1 in prelims, and was 4th speaker in the division.

In varsity, junior Ava Zinman earned her fourth TOC bid of the season by reaching octofinals of the tournament. Ava was 6-1 in prelims, clearing as the tournament's 8th seed and 11th speaker.

At the Bronx Science Fall Tournament at the Bronx High School of Science on November 17th, all six of Harrison’s students had winning records and received awards.

Freshman Ali Ahmad placed 2nd Milly Wong placed 3rd Gabe Voskoff placed 4th, Macarena Hesse placed 9th, Arun Sood placed 12th, and Lizzie Murno placed 16th. Ali, Milly, Gabe, and Macarena were all undefeated.

On November 11th, the Harrison High School Debate team had a dominant performance at the 15th Scarsdale Invitational at Scarsdale High School. In varsity, the team earned its 5th TOC bid of the season to date, and made up 1/4 of the octofinal (top 16) field. In the novice division, the team took all of the top 6 places, and were 7 of the top 10 debaters in the field. This marked the team's 4th tournament win of the season.

Five of Harrison’s eight varsity debaters cleared to elimination rounds; captain and junior Ava Zinman reached semifinals, earning her third TOC bid this season. Ava went 5-1 in prelims; she placed 4th overall, and was 6th speaker. Senior Justin Wilson, captain and junior Ethan Voskoff, and sophomore Molly Ryan also reached octofinals (top 16); Molly was eliminated on a close 2-1 decision to the tournament champion and was the only debater in the tournament to take a ballot from that competitor.

In novice, Harrison had a clean sweep – with all eight debaters having winning records. Freshman Mai Blaustein was the tournament champion and the tournament’s top novice speaker. Arun Sood placed 2nd, Ali Ahmad placed 3rd, Milly Wong placed 4th, Lizzie Murno placed 5th, Luka Safar placed 6th, Gabe Voskoff placed 8th and was 2nd novice speaker. Mai and Arun were the only two undefeated debaters in the field, and Ali, Milly, Lizzie, and Luka were four of the five 5-1s!

And lastly, the HHS Debate team traveled to Minneapolis, Minnesota for the 2018 MinneApple Invitational, held at Apple Valley High School. Two varsity debaters qualified for the Tournament of Champions in May, and one of Harrison’s JVers reached the final round of the tournament.

Apple Valley is a highly competitive national championship tournament. In a field of 138 Varsity and 45 JV Lincoln-Douglas debaters from over 15 states around the country, team captain Eli Lapkin reached semifinals of the varsity division, placing 3rd and earning his second TOC bid of the season. Eli was 5-1 in preliminary rounds, and went on to win his partial triple-octofinals, double-octofinal, and octofinal rounds.

Fellow captain Ava Zinman reached quarterfinals, where she was coached over by Eli based on seeding; she placed 8th overall, was 19th speaker, and earned her second TOC bid, too.

This tournament marks the first time that two Harrison debaters have been in quarterfinals of Apple Valley, and the first time since 2013 that a Harrison debater has been in semis of this tournament. Harrison is excited to send both Eli and Ava to Kentucky this spring.

In JV, sophomore Molly Ryan made it all the way to the final round, placing 2nd on a close 2-1 decision. Molly was top seed and 8th speaker in her division; this marks her second consecutive JV final round appearance this year, and also marks the third time a Harrison debater has reached the final round of Apple Valley’s JV division.

As a team, Harrison won the 2nd place Lincoln-Douglas Sweepstakes Award, making this the second time the Harrison High School Debate Team has received this honor.