This past weekend, Clark’s Speech and Debate team competed at the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication Invitational Tournament at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. Twenty-one Clark students competed from January 5th to 7th.

In varsity dramatic interpretation, club president Manushri Desai was a semifinalist and received her second bid for the National Events Individual Tournament of Champions (NIETOC) in Denver, Colorado, qualifying her for the competition in May.

“In both speech and debate events, we’ve already had six students qualify for the National Individual Events Tournament of Champions tournament this May,” says Desai. “I am honored to represent the team in Denver this year.”

In novice Lincoln-Douglas (LD) debate, freshmen Sophia Adams placed second and Jaiden Reddy was a quarterfinalist.

In novice Public Forum debate, sophomore Erin Keene and Junior Aisha Sanwal were octafinalists. Keene was also a quarterfinalist in varsity informative speaking.

In novice humorous interpretation, freshman Colleen Keene placed third.

“I’m extremely proud of my novices,” says LD captain Aakash Shah. “This was their first out-of-state tournament and two of them placed. We’re all impressed that they were able to adapt to a progressive debate style in Arizona and perform at a high level.”