Juan Diego CHS debate team wins 7th consecutive Region 10 championship; heads to state, nationals

Friday, Mar. 13, 2015

DRAPER — Juan Diego Catholic High School will enter the 3A State Championship Debate Tournament March 13-14 as the Region 10 champions for the seventh consecutive year. 

The Soaring Eagle debate team won the Region 10 championship, held at JDCHS, after competing against Park City, Morgan and Uintah high schools Feb. 24; they won first place by more than 50 points, said Tony Johnson, Juan Diego debate coach. Park City finished in second place. 

Juan Diego will defend its fourth consecutive state title by taking the school’s 25 best region debaters to compete against other 3A schools in the state tournament, Johnson said. The 3A high schools are Carbon, Cedar, Desert Hills, Dixie, Hurricane, Juab, Morgan, North Sanpete, Park City and Snow Canyon. 

Juan Diego also qualified for the national Tournament of Champions for the sixth straight year, which will be held April 25-27 at the University of Kentucky. Juan Diego has historically been successful, and qualified this year by placing ninth out of 325 teams at the California Invitational at the University of California – Berkeley. 

“That is the largest debate tournament in the country, and we finished in the top 10,” Johnson said. “It was a very good tournament.” 

Juan Diego debate and speech co-coach Moses Baca is proud of the team and how successful it has been, he said. “Not only this team this year, but for this entire community to have sustained a level of success for seven straight years is what really impresses me,” Baca said. 

One of the most rewarding things “is how the students prepare themselves for the region competition,” Baca said. “Our region team is the largest team that we put together. We bring 40 students, and the only way for such a large group of students to be so successful is for them to depend on each other and to help each other. When we win that championship, it’s evidence of strong support and teamwork and a great work ethic.”

The region tournament is the most competitive, Baca said. “That is relevant for a couple of reasons. First, Park City and Morgan high schools, our region opponents, were very impressive, and I have tremendous respect for the progress that they’ve brought with their teams. The other reason is that whenever our competition is really good, it adds value to our success; it’s more hard fought.”

JDCHS’ debate program is starting something new. “I will teach debate to the sixth-graders at Saint John the Baptist Middle School,” Johnson said. “There are some schools on the East Coast with this model, but I will hopefully build that funnel here.”

The success of the Soaring Eagle debate team begins with its history of excellence and “the support for our program throughout the school from Dr. Galey Colosimo, principal; and all of our administrators and staff,” Johnson said. “It continues with the support of the parents and senior leaders, who go above and beyond helping the students in the program. It seems that every year we lose some seniors and then other kids step up and fill their spot.”