Kinkaid Debate started off the year strong with an early January appearance at the University of Houston Cougar Classic, one of the most competitive tournaments in the city, with 54 schools from 4 states competing, and the only Tournament of Champions (TOC) qualifier in all of the debate events in Houston.
- The policy team of Sabrina Bajwa '17 and Sam Richey '17 placed 2nd, losing a close finals round on a 2-1 decision. Sabrina was awarded the 3rd overall speaker and Sam the 4th. Sabrina and Sam have received their 5th bid to the TOC.
- In Lincoln-Douglas Jason Yang '17 placed in the top eight (quarterfinals), losing on a 2-1 decision to cross town rivals, Strake Jesuit. Jason was awarded the 2nd overall speaker in LD. Jason is now fully qualified for the Texas Forensics Association (TFA) State Tournament.
- Sam Segal '18 placed in the top 16 (octofinals) in Lincoln-Douglas. Sam has 10 of the 12 points needed to qualify for TFA State.
The following weekend, the team took advantage of the long weekend to compete from coast to coast and locally. Lexington High School in Boston is the biggest and most competitive tournament in Massachusetts that is not named Harvard, with 103 schools representing 19 states. Harvard Westlake High School in California is a major of Lincoln-Douglas debate with 76 schools representing 10 states in attendance. Meanwhile, locally, Katy High School hosted a strong local with 32 schools from throughout the Houston area.
- Sabrina Bajwa '17 and Sam Richey '17 received their 6th bid to the TOC by reaching the finals of the Lexington tournament. The final round was postponed until February. Sabrina was awarded the top overall speaker award out of 120 individuals.
- Jason Yang '17 placed in the top 8 (quarter-finals) at Harvard Westlake. He went undefeated in preliminary rounds and was awarded the 4th overall speaker out of 108 individuals.
- At Katy HS, the policy debaters closed out the final round receiving 1st and 2nd place. Amy Ho '19 and Dani Knobloch '19 received first since they went undefeated in preliminary rounds and were the top seed. Sahar Punjwani '20 and Hannah Shi '19 received second. Sahar and Hannah are now fully qualified for TFA State and Amy and Dani are one point away.
- In Lincoln-Douglas, Sam Segal '18 was the top speaker of the tournament and finalist, losing on a 2-1 decision. Sam is now fully qualified for TFA State.
- Vivian Liu '17 was the 2nd speaker and was a quarterfinalist.
- Shreya Mehta '20 was undefeated in preliminary rounds and reached the top 16. Shreya is now 2 points away from qualifying for TFA State.
Congratulations Debate students!