BY SABRINE BRISMEUR
Clad in suits, ties, and pencil skirts, two students stood on a dark stage among a handful of others, celebrating their national win for CCHS’s Speech and Debate Team in front of hundreds.
“Making it further than many other nationally recognized debaters felt good,” finalist Kia del Solar said.
The Sunvitational “Sunvite” Speech and Debate Tournament, hosted at NSU University School, drew in hundreds of high school students from all over the United States. It was CCHS’ first time competing at this particular tournament, and with a large team in tow, four ranked in the upper levels of the competition.
Seniors Max Mickenberg and Kia del Solar made it to finals in Impromptu Speaking and Congressional Debate, respectively, while juniors Bruce Glasserman and Zachary Perrotta broke to semi-finals in Congressional Debate.
“There were kids from New Jersey, Texas, California — everywhere,” Debate Co-President Gaby Sanchez said. “Everyone that qualified for nationals came to this tournament, so it made the competition extremely difficult.”
Competing from January 13th to the 15th, debaters and speakers flocked to this Tournament of Champions (TOC) bid tournament. The Sunvite competition offered debaters and speakers an opportunity to gain ‘bids’ by reaching or surpassing a designated elimination round. Those who boast two or more bids are qualified enough to compete at the TOC.
“The TOC is generally regarded as the most prestigious tournament on the national circuit,” Glasserman said. “It was a great feeling to put a lot of effort into something and receive a tangible result, which was qualifying for the TOC.”
Out of 225 students, del Solar ranked tenth at Sunvite and took home an award for her accomplishment in Congress.
“The tournament was longer than any other I’ve been to, but that’s Sunvite for you,” she said. “I have to admit that even though I was tired, the feeling of being only one of three girls to make it to finals felt invigorating.”
Co-President Mickenberg, who placed fifth in Impromptu, where competitors are given a prompt and 7 minutes to compose and perform a speech, was impressed with his team’s performance.
“[Our team] stuck to it in a hard tournament and we saw victories from usual seniors, and constant improvement and success from underclassmen,” he said. “It was great to see everyone work together towards their goal.”
Though the tournament was widely regarded as much more difficult than any local ones, the CCHS Speech and Debate team rose to the challenge.
