The Jackson Hole High School Speech and Debate Team found incredible success at their first official tournament of the season held at Rock Springs High School, November 15-16, bringing home a 1st place team sweepstakes trophy along with eighteen individual awards. The Jackson team, coached by Londe and Peggy Gagnon earned 79 points with Riverton in second place with 44 points.
Senior Maleah Tuttle led the way in her individual events. She finished first in varsity Extemporaneous Speaking, fourth in varsity Impromptu Speaking and third in varsity Lincoln Douglas Debate. Her success in the three events earned her a fourth place finish in the “Triple Threat” competition that is unique to the Rock Springs tournament.
Freshman Nicole Checker paired with sophomore Nayeli Hernandez- Lopez in novice Public Forum Debate to finish in second place. They spent the weekend debating whether or not the benefits of the United States federal government’s use of offensive cyber operations outweigh the harms. Juniors Josh Hansen and Preston Harmon teamed up to finish in third place in the varsity category of the event.
Checker and Hernandez- Lopez again teamed up in novice Duo Interpretation to finish in fifth. Hansen went on to place third in varsity Congressional Debate. Sophomore William Aepli finished second. In the novice division, freshman Maya Worcester reached the final round of the event.
Aepli also competed in varsity Lincoln Douglas Debate, arguing both sides of whether or not the United States ought to eliminate subsidies for fossil fuels. He finished in second place after going undefeated in preliminary rounds.
Junior River Gayton found incredible success in varsity Informative Speaking, earning a first place trophy with her speech on colors. Junior Abi Daugherty placed sixth in novice Humorous Interpretation. Sophomore Tina Tonkin placed fourth in novice Original Oratory.
Varsity Extemporaneous Speaking proved to be a lucrative event for the JHHS team. Following closely on the heels of Tuttle’s first place finish, seniors and team captains, Warren Levy and Darcy Mueller finished in sixth place and fourth place respectively. Harmon made it to semi finals but missed the cutoff for finals by one placing. In the novice category of the event, freshman Alexis Hernandez tied for third place.
Hernandez joined freshman Blanca Sartillo in Novice Program Oral Interpretation where they finished in fifth and sixth place respectively. Sartillo’s program explores the Latinx experience in America while Hernandez looks at immigration issues we face in the country.
The Jackson Hole High School Speech and Debate team is excited to have so many up and coming competitors. Gagnon remarked, “Varsity and Novice worked together in seamless fashion to bring home numerous top awards and a very prestigious team sweepstakes trophy. It’s going to be an amazing year.”
Jackson competes again in December at the Thermopolis “Bobcat Invitational.”
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