HHS Debate Team Off To A Successful 2016-17 Start

The Harrison High School Debate Team is picking up where they left off last year – capturing a National Championship, a National Round Robin Invitational, a Regional tournament and a Novice championship.

Senior Raffi Piliero has been leading the team in wins, traveling to Dallas, Texas and placing first in both the Greenhill Round Robin Invitational and the Greenhill National Championship. Piliero placed first among 102 national Lincoln-Debate participants and bested the top 16 debaters nationwide in the Invitational. Piliero also won the Byram Hills Championship after being the top seed and the top speaker, and he was named the top speaker at the Bronx High School of Science’s New York City Invitational. Senior Matt Zinman was a finalist at the invitation-only Byram Hills Round Robin.

Senior Sammi O’Reilly placed in the top 16 at the prestigious Yale National Championship while juniors Carl Spana and Brian Siegel reached elimination rounds. Sophomores Caroline Wong and Matt Wilson also had an outstanding showing at this event, reaching elimination rounds in the JV division.

Showing the depth of the younger Harrison High School debaters, sophomore Eli Lapkin placed in the semifinals of the national Valley Sophomore Throwdown in West Des Moines, Iowa. Lapkin was invited as one of the top sophomores in the country.

The HHS Freshmen also showed their strength by winning and taking seven of the top 10 places at the Regis First Timers’ Tournament at Regis High School in New York City:

Ava Zinman – 1st Place
Matthew Repecki – 3rd Place
Eva Rogers – 4th Place
Daiana Djangaracheva – 5th Place
Victoria Lendino – 9th Place
Logan Wasserman – 10th Place