Members of Harker’s middle school speech and debate team competed at four tournaments in February in California and Nevada. As always, our students primarily compete against high school students.

At the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, from Feb. 3-5, 90 schools across 17 states representing 313 entries competed in debate events. Five Harker middle school students competed. In novice Lincoln-Douglas speaker awards, Arjun Krishna, grade 6, came in ninth.

At Stanford University from Feb. 10-12, 270 schools across 27 states representing 2,262 entries competed in speech and debate events. Twenty-five Harker students competed. In junior varsity impromptu speaking, Arely Sun and Madeleine Hansen, both grade 8, were quarterfinalists and finished 20th and 26th, respectively. In JV public forum, Vienna Parnell and Alivia Li, both grade 8, were triple-octofinalists, finishing 33rd; in varsity Lincoln-Douglas, Anshul Reddy and Akhilesh Chegu, both grade 8, were triple-octofinalists, also finishing 33rd.

In Harker’s fourth intramural contest of the year, in early February, about 50 Harker students competed in four distinct events. In speech (memorized interpretive events) Hansen was first and Zubin Khera, grade 7, was second. In public forum, Carol Wininger and Deeya Viradia, both grade 7, took first. Public forum speaker awardees were Krishna Mysoor, grade 6, first place; Ansh Sheth, grade 6, second; Karan Kathuria, grade 6, third; Muzzi Khan, grade 7, fourth; and Stephen Xia, grade 7, fifth. In Lincoln-Douglas, Rahul Mulpuri, grade 7, earned first place.

Sixth graders had their own events. In the intro category, Om Tandon came in first, Angelina Zhu placed second, Bryan Xiao was third and Ramit Goyal was fourth. In intro speaker awards, Goyal was first, Tandon was second and Zhu was third.

At the University of California, Berkeley, from Feb. 17-19, 180 schools across 17 states representing 2,193 entries competed in speech and debate events. This is the most competitive tournament Harker attends during the year, based on entry numbers and skill level. About 90 Harker middle school students competed. In varsity expository speaking Michelle Jin, grade 7, was a quarterfinalist, finishing 24th. In varsity impromptu speaking, Jin was a quarterfinalist, finishing 21st. In JV Lincoln-Douglas speaker awards, Alex Lan, grade 7, came in 17th.

In JV public forum, Carol Wininger and Deeya Viradia earned 36th; Vienna Parnell and Ysabel Chen, both grade 8, were 41st; and Chloe Lee and Kaitlyn Wang, both grade 6, were 45th. All three teams had 4-2 records. In JV public forum speaker awards, Dhruv Saoji, grade 8, was seventh and Aaditya Gulati, grade 8, was 21st. In varsity Lincoln-Douglas, Anshul Reddy, grade 8, was a triple-octofinalist, finishing 33rd.