From January 31 to February 1, the Strath Haven Speech and Debate team traveled to Pennsbury High School to compete in the Pennsbury Falcon Invitational.
Strath Haven bulldozed through the competition, with a total of five Tournament of Champions (TOC) bids earned in this tournament. Sophomore Lavanya Dixit won a bid in varsity LD, junior Colin Foster and sophomore Earvin Yi won bids in varsity public forum, junior Casper Stockman won a bid in original oratory and informative speaking, and junior Zachary Pita won a bid in extemporaneous speaking.
Public Forum (PF) is a debate event where you and a partner construct a well-put-together argument debating a “resolve”, which is the topic of debate that is changed bi-monthly. Lincoln Douglas (LD) is a more philosophical form of this, where you are solo in debates.
Original Oratory (OO) is an event where you get a physical slideshow on what is typically a canvas, and memorize a 10-minute informative speech while utilizing your visual aid.
Competitors are judged on the relatability, importance, and originality of their presentation. Informative speaking is very similar to this, but without a visual aid, and also judged on how articulate, engaging, and smooth you are with your delivery at both a vocal and physical level, per the NSDA.
“I was very excited but the whole day was a blur and each round just kind of… happened,” junior Colin Foster, who won a gold bid, said.
Foster did not think he was going to make it to the semifinals.
“We [Foster and Yi] had never made it that far. But when the gold bid became an opportunity, a potential opportunity, I became very focused on getting it… We were very happy,” he said.
Foster admitted that not much preparation was put into their performance, even saying that his partner didn’t prepare at all.
“If everybody isn’t that well prepared, then someone like Earvin, who’s just very good at thinking on his feet can do very well,” Foster said, speaking highly of his partner.
Competitors at the invitational earned the most TOC bids Strath Haven earned at a tournament this year.
Apart from the outstanding performances, team members celebrated senior Sophie Lin’s birthday in the hotel, feasting on cake and Raising Cane’s chicken, a true meal of champions.
Since then, the team has performed on February 7-9 at the University of Pennsylvania Invitational, garnering 4 TOC bids. The team is looking forward to NCFL and NSDA qualifiers, a set of tournaments that can send competitors to nationals.
