Juan Diego captures state title in debate

Courtesy photo/JDCHS

+ Enlarge

Juan Diego debaters display their trophies won at a recent tournament.

By MariaFernanda Gomez

Special to the Intermountain Catholic

DRAPER — The Juan Diego Catholic High School debate team has completed another phenomenal season, capping it by dominating the state competition.

Juan Diego debaters showed their strength early in the season at the University of Southern California's David Damus Trojan Championships in November, an event that attracted 77 West Coast teams. Ryan Keenan, a sophomore, took first Junior Varsity speaker. In Varsity, four Juan Diego debaters placed in the top 10 out of 154 debaters.

The debaters displayed their talents in January, when they competed against the top 16 teams in Utah. Juan Diego was the only team to advance in all three events: Lincoln Douglas, Public Forum, and Policy. They followed this performance in late February by taking on 242 other teams from the western United States in Berkeley, Calif. Sophomore Steven Katsohirakis advanced to octa-finals in Impromptu and Sean Williams and Ryan Keenan, also sophomores, advanced to triple octa-finals in Policy. In addition, Keenan and senior Aniela Butler placed 17th and 21st, respectively, out of 482 debaters.

The team has plenty of young talent in its first-year debaters, who provide great promise for the future. At Stansbury High's Stallion Stampede, freshmen Rachel Carlson and Kassi Luther won first in novice Policy, Ryan Hurley and Jaycee Cappeart were undefeated and sophomore Erik Tita won third place in novice Congress.

Moses Baca, head coach of the team, is assisted by Josh Clark, policy coach, and Leslie Robinett, speech coach. More than 50 Soaring Eagle debaters participated in at least one tournament this year.

The Utah coaches ranked the Juan Diego Debate Team number one in Utah. It is also one of the top 20 debate programs in the nation and continues to break school records. Clark has high hopes for its continued success.

"Look at how far we have gotten in just 10 years," he said. "Hopefully we will be in the top 10 or five programs within a few more."

Debaters say their success derives from commitment, team support, and the coaching staff. Team members practice before school and spend countless hours at tournaments tweaking speeches or researching with their coaches.

Richard Idriss, a junior, reached the semi-finals round in the Las Vegas Meadows Tournament on Halloween weekend in Policy debate with Katie Roberts, another junior. Idriss is proud of his team's success. "It's historic," he said. "It's the first year we have ever had national success in Policy and we aim to put Utah back on the map."

This year, Gus Schwab and Aniela Butler, who compete as a Policy team, were the first team in Juan Diego history to qualify for the Tournament of Champions in the University of Kentucky, which will occur in May.

The Soaring Eagle team finished the season as strong as they started. At the region tournament in late February, Juan Diego placed first for the third year in a row; a team or individual sweeping region champion title in all eight events. They dominated in Extemporaneous Speaking, Oratory, Policy, and Spar.

The debate team wrapped up its season with dominating performances at the 3A state tournament March 18-19. All four policy event teams earned superior ratings and advanced to the semi-final round – a triumph no other team could claim. They closed out elimination rounds in a four-way tie for the trophy.

The Soaring Eagle Policy debate teams who earned superior ratings and advanced to the semi-final round were Gus Schwab and Andy Moyle, Aniela Butler and Alex Milburn, Richard Idriss and Katie Roberts, and Sean Williams and Ryan Keenan.

In Public Forum, Meaghan Kelliher and Joe Koronkowski won third place.

In Lincoln-Douglas, Adam Schmidt won second place and Natsumi Alavarez earned a superior rating.

In Extemporaneous Speaking, Samantha Schumm was a finalist and earned a superior rating.

In Impromptu Speaking, Cody Thompson won second place and earned a superior rating.

In Spontaneous Argumentation, Ryan Hurley won third place and Rachel Carlson won fifth place; both earned superior ratings.

MariaFernanda Gomez is a news editor and reporter for "The Speaking Eagle," the Juan Diego Catholic High School newspaper.