Congratulations On A Job Well Done!
The team has been working incredibly hard overall, and although I am not mentioning every student, there are many students who work just as hard as the students mentioned. The Anderson Speech and Debate Team has been and will continue to be a group of students who support and help each other to succeed.
Cedar Ridge High School, January 28, 2012
The Anderson Speech and Debate Team took home the 3rd Place Sweepstakes Trophy this past Saturday at Cedar Ridge High School. All individuals at the tournament supported the overall team effort, and these are the individuals who advanced to the final round of their events:
Senior Officer Andrew Levitan won 1st Place in Dramatic Interpretation. Andrew is qualified for the TFA State Tournament in both DI and DUO.
Senior Chinmay Baxi won 1st Place in Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking. Chinmay is qualified for the TFA State Tournament in FX, DX, and PFD.
Senior Adam Lang won 1st Place in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking and 5th Place in Original Oratory. Adam is qualified in DX and PFD.
Freshman Nikki Dargahi won 1st Place in Prose Interpretation and 2nd Place in Original Oratory.
Freshmen Britta Garza and Michael Lupher won 2nd Place in Duo Interpretation. Michael and Britta are qualified for TFA State in DUO Interpretation.
Sophomore Alex Milne won 3rd Place in Congressional Debate.
Sophomore Tristan McConnell won 5th Place in Humorous Interpretation.
Sophomore Travis Weaver won 5th Place in Congressional Debate.
In his first tournament competing in Congress, Sophomore Spencer Burton won 6th Place.
In her first tournament, Junior Lauren McNamara won 7th Place in Original Oratory.
Winston Churchill Classic, January 13-14, 2012
The Anderson Speech and Debate Team finished fourth overall at the Winston Churchill Classic in San Antonio. There were 70 schools from all over Texas competing (and a few schools from Oklahoma and Louisiana). This is a solid finish for the Anderson Speech and Debate Team, highlighted by many individual successes.
Senior Captain David Engleman won 1st Place in Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking, an event that began with 82 of the top competitors in Texas.
Senior Officer Angela Lupher won 2nd Place in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking, an event that began with 110 of the top competitors in Texas. Angela also advanced to the Semifinal Round in Original Oratory.
Senior Officer Ariela Schnyer won 3rd Place in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking. Ariela also advanced to the Semifinal Round in Original Oratory.
Senior Officer Sara Wofford won 3rd Place in Congressional Debate, an event that began with 79 of the top competitors in Texas. Sara also advanced to the Semifinal Round of Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking.
Junior Officer Keren Brickman won 3rd Place in Original Oratory, an event that began with 65 of the top competitors in Texas.
Seniors Kyle Ford and Eder Medina advanced to the Quarterfinal Round of Public Forum Debate, an event that began with 55 of the top Public Forum teams in Texas.
Junior Dianna Radpour advanced to the Octafinal Round of Lincoln-Douglas Debate, an event that began with 115 of the top competitors in Texas.
Sophomores Neetika Bhargava and Finley Patterson advanced to the Octafinal Round of Public Forum Debate. Neetika also advanced to the Semifinal Round of Original Oratory.
Sophomores Aliyah Conley and Caroline Builta advanced to the Semifinal Round of Duo Interpretation. Caroline advanced to the Semifinal Round of Dramatic Interpretation and Poetry Interpretation, as well.
Senior Johanna Smith advanced to the Semifinal Round in both Poetry Interpretation and Prose Interpretation.
Stony Point High School, January 6-7, 2012
David Engleman and Caroline Builta won 1st Place in Duet Acting. Caroline won 4th Place in Dramatic Interpretation.
Angela Lupher won 3rd Place in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking.
Senior Elizabeth McLean won 3rd Place in Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking.
Competing in her first tournament in Original Oratory, freshman Nikki Dargahi won 5th Place.
Competing in his first tournament in Congressional Debate, sophomore Alex Milne won 6th Place.
The team also had many semifinalists including: Sebby Soenen, Elly Smith, Michael Lupher, Adam Lang, Britta Garza, Claire Dollen, and Maddie Chambers.
Austin High School, December 10, 2011
At the Austin High Tournament, just before the Winter Break, the team had some similar successes:
Sophomores Conner Martin and Blake Robbins won 2nd Place in Duet Acting.
David Engleman and Caroline Builta won 3rd Place in Duet Acting. David also won 4th Place in Congressional Debate.
Angela Lupher won 3rd Place in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking.
Elizabeth McLean won 4th Place in Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking and 6th Place in Original Oratory.
University of Texas Longhorn Classic, December 2-3, 2011
For the fourth year in a row (amazing!), the Anderson Speech and Debate Team won 1st in Speech Events and 2nd Overall at the University of Texas Longhorn Classic that was held this past weekend. Only Winston Churchill High School (San Antonio) finished ahead of Anderson in the overall sweepstakes. This result, coupled with the 10th place finish at The Glenbrooks Tournament in Chicago, establishes Anderson as a perennial powerhouse. This particular team has been working incredibly hard, and recognition goes to all of the members of the Anderson Speech and Debate Team.
Here are some of the specifics of the tournament at UT:
Senior Captain David Engleman won 1st Place in Impromptu Speaking and 3rd Place in Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking. Based on these results, David finished in a tie for 2nd Place Individual Events Speaker overall. After an intense game of “rock-paper-scissors,” David won the award for 2nd Place IE Speaker.
Senior Officer Savannah Kumar was named Top Speaker in Lincoln-Douglas Debate and advanced to the quarterfinal round, just missing a bid to the Tournament of Champions.
Junior Officer Hanna Tyson won 1st Place in Duo Interpretation with her partner, Senior Officer Andrew Levitan, and also won 2nd Place in Poetry Interpretation. Unfortunately for Hanna, she came up short in the epic “rock-paper-scissors” bout, and was awarded 4th Place IE Speaker overall.
Senior Officer Sara Wofford won 2nd Place in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking and 3rd Place in Impromptu Speaking. Sara finished as the 5th Place IE Speaker overall.
Senior Officer Angela Lupher won 3rd Place in Original Oratory, 5th Place in Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking, and 5th Place in Impromptu Speaking. Angela finished as the 6th Place IE Speaker overall.
Sophomore Caroline Builta won 3rd Place in Poetry Interpretation, 5th Place in Duo Interpretation with her partner Sophomore Aliyah Conley, and 6th Place in Prose Interpretation. Caroline finished as the 7th Place IE Speaker overall.
Seniors Kyle Ford and Eder Medina won all five of their preliminary rounds, and advanced to the quarterfinals in Public Forum.
Senior Officer Johanna Smith and Junior Lauren L’Amie won 2nd Place in Duo Interpretation.
Junior Officer Keren Brickman won 2nd Place in Original Oratory.
Senior Officer Ariela Schnyer won 7th Place in Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking.
Senior Daniel Kane won 4th Place in Impromptu Speaking.
Senior Chinmay Baxi won 7th Place in Impromptu Speaking.
We also had a bunch of semifinal results in Individual Events.
I am so pleased with the hard work that is being displayed at practice. Austin High is this weekend, then the Winter Break. The break is much deserved. Let’s come back from it focused and energized.
Your incredibly proud coach,
Joseph Uhler
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Glenbrooks, November 18-19, 2011
At the 32nd Annual Glenbrooks Tournament (the largest tournament in the country hosted by a high school) in Chicago, IL, the participants from Anderson represented their school in fine fashion.
In an event that began with 91 of the top competitors from all over the nation, Caroline Builta finished 4th in Prose/Poetry Interpretation. Despite competing against mostly Juniors and Seniors, Caroline, a Sophomore, advanced to the final round and performed masterfully. Caroline also advanced to the quarterfinals in Dramatic Interpretation, an incredible accomplishment in itself.
David Engelman and Daniel Kane advanced to round of the final 16 competitors in Public Forum Debate. The team of Kane and Engleman defeated many teams from around the nation and picked up numerous fans along the way. Coaches and teams we had never met before were pulling for David and Daniel because of their creative and persuasive style of argumentation.
Senior Officer Andrew Levitan advanced to the semifinals of Dramatic Interpretation and the quarterfinals of Duo Interpretation. To advance to those levels in one event at The Glenbrooks is quite a feat, so advancing in two events is an accomplishment of which Andrew should be extremely proud.
Hanna Tyson advanced to quarterfinals in Humorous Interpretation and Duo Interpretation. Hanna has had an amazing season thus far and these results are pretty incredible additions to an already impressive resume.
Lauren L’Amie advanced to the semifinals in Dramatic Interpretation. Considering that this event began with 113 of the top competitors in the nation, and Lauren made it among the top 12, this result is pretty fantastic.
Senior Officer Savannah Kumar just missed advancing to the top 32 competitors in Lincoln-Douglas Debate. Savannah has been working incredibly hard and is on the cusp of achieving the results that she deserves.
Many others who traveled to Chicago came extremely close to advancing past the preliminary rounds. This is the best overall team performance the Anderson Speech and Debate Team has registered at this prestigious tournament.
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Round Rock Tournament, November 18-19, 2011
At the Round Rock High School Tournament, Anderson experienced many postive results. The top performers at this tournament were:
Aliyah Conley: 1st in Dramatic Interpretation
Kori Stewart: 7th in Dramatic Interpretation
Adam Lang: 5th in Original Oratory
Senior Elizabeth McLean: 2nd in Original Oratory and 5th Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking
Chinmay Baxi: 1st in Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking and 7th in Congressional Debate
Junior Helen Guo recorded a 3-1 record, but did not move on in the tournament because of a tabulation error.
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Hays Tournament, November 11-12, 2011
At the Jack C. Hays Tournament in Buda, the team won the 1st Place sweepstakes award by a significant margin. Top performers for Anderson were:
Senior Chinmay Baxi: 5th in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking
Junior Olivia Benton: 3rd in Humorous Interpretation
Sophomore Caroline Builta: 1st in Prose Interpretation, 3rd in Poetry Interpretation, and 3rd in Duo Interpretation
Sophomore Aliyah Conley: 2nd in Dramatic Interpretation, 3rd in Duo Interpretation, and 2nd in Prose Interpretation
Senior Captain David Engleman: Quarterfinalist in Public Forum Debate
Senior Daniel Kane: Quarterfinalist in Public Forum Debate
Seniors Kyle Ford and Eder Medina: Quarterfinalists in Public Forum Debate
Senior Officer Ariela Schnyer: 1st in Original Oratory and Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking
Senior Officer Johanna Smith: 1st in Duo Interpretation and 4th in Dramatic Interpretation
Junior Officer Hanna Tyson: 1st in Foreign Interpretation and 1st in Poetry Interpretation
Junior Lauren L’Amie: 1st in Duo Interpretation
Sophomore Kori Stewart: 4th in Prose Interpretation
Senior Adam Lang: 6th in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking
Freshmen Kameron Schultz and Brandon Novy: Quarterfinalists in Public Forum Debate
Sophomore Finley Patterson: 1st in Novice Extemporaneous Speaking
Freshman Jeff Auster just missed advancing past preliminary rounds with a 3-1 record.
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Connally High School, October 7-8, 2011
At Connally High School, the Anderson Speech and Debate Team performed extremely well. Here are the results:
Senior Officer Sara Wofford won 2nd Place in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking.
Senior Chinmay Baxi won 5th Place in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking.
Senior Adam Lang won 6th Place in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking and 5th Place in Original Oratory.
Chinmay and Adam advanced to the Quarterfinals in Public Forum Debate.
Seniors Eder Medina and Kyle Ford advanced to the Quarterfinals in Public Forum Debate.
Senior Officer Angela Lupher won 1st Place in Original Oratory.
Sophomore Conner Martin won 6th Place in Humorous Interpretation.
Sophomores Noah Truesdale and Alex Milne advanced to the Quarterfinals in Cross-Examination Debate.
Sophomores Blake Robbins and Conner Martin won 7th Place in Duo Interpretation.
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Pflugerville High School, September 30-October 1, 2011
At Plugerville High School, the Anderson Speech and Debate Team won 2nd Place in Sweepstakes.
Senior Chinmay Baxi won 3rd Place in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking.
Senior Officer Angela Lupher won 2nd Place in Original Oratory and 4th Place in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking.
Senior Adam Lang won 6th Place in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking.
Chinmay and Adam won 2nd Place in Public Forum Debate.
Senior Captain David Engelman won 1st Place in Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking.
Sophomore Neetika Bhargava won 1st Place in Original Oratory.
Neetika and her partner, Sophomore Finley Patterson, advanced to the Semifinals in Public Forum Debate.
Senior Officer Keren Brickman won 4th Place in Original Oratory.
Sophomore Caroline Builta won 4th Place in Dramatic Interpretation.
Junior Officer Hanna Tyson won 1st Place in Humorous Interpretation.
Junior Dianna Radpour advanced to the Semifinals of Lincoln-Douglas Debate.
Sophomores Caroline Builta and Aliyah Conley won 3rd Place in Duo Interpretation.
Caroline also won 1st Place in Prose Interpretation.
Freshman Eli Kahan won 3rd Place in Novice Extemporaneous Speaking.
Sophomore Aether Huang won 6th Place in Novice Extemporaneous Speaking.
Freshman Trinity Vassberg advanced to the Quarterfinals in Lincoln-Douglas Debate.
Freshman Michael Lupher won 1st Place in Novice Prose Interpretation.
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St. Mark’s Heart of Texas Tournament, September 14-15, 2011
At the St. Mark’s Heart of Texas Invitational Tournament in Dallas, Senior Officer Sara Wofford won 4th Place in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking. Considering the level of competition at the St. Mark’s Tournament, this is an amazing result for Sara.
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Grapevine Tournament, September 9-10, 2011
At the Grapevine Tournament, with 78 teams from all over the United States competing, the Anderson Speech and Debate Team finished 2nd overall. The team was led by the following individuals:
Senior Andrew Levitan and Junior Hanna Tyson finished 1st in Duo Interpretation. Andrew also finished 3rd in Original Oratory.
Senior Angela Lupher finished 2nd in Original Oratory and 7th in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking.
Senior Johanna Smith and Sophomore Caroline Builta finished 4th in Duet Acting. Johanna also finished 7th in Duo Interpretation with her partner Junior Lauren L’Amie.
Juniors Olivia Benton and Keren Brickman finished 5th in Duo Interpretation.
Seniors Kyle Ford and Eder Medina advanced to the quarterfinals of Public-Forum Debate.
Seniors David Engleman and Daniel Kane advanced to the octofinals of Public-Forum Debate.
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Lake Travis Tournament, September 10, 2011
At Lake Travis, a young Anderson team experienced many successes.
Senior Sara Wofford won 1st place in Congressional Debate and 2nd place in Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking.
Junior Dianna Radpour advanced to the final round of Lincoln-Douglas Debate and won 2nd.
Sophomores Neetika Bhargava and Finley Patterson advanced to the final round of Public-Forum Debate and won 2nd.
Sophomore Travis Weaver won 3rd place in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking.
Freshmen Britta Garza and Michael Lupher won 3rd place in Duo Interpretation. Britta also won 2nd place in Novice Prose Interpretation and Michael also won 2nd place in Novice Extemporaneous Speaking.
Freshman Kameron Schultz advanced to the quarterfinal round in Lincoln-Douglas Debate.
Sophomore Aliyah Conley won 4th place in Prose Interpretation.
Freshman Matan Brickman won 1st place in Novice Extemporaneous Speaking.
Freshman Elly Smith won 2nd place in Novice Poetry and 3rd place in Novice Prose.
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Hendrickson Tournament, September 2-3, 2011
At the first tournament of the year, the Hendrickson Hawk Classic in Pflugerville , the Anderson Speech and Debate Team won first place overall. The team beat all other area teams by more than 100 sweepstakes points! The team was led by the following students:
Senior Captain David Engleman won 3rd place in International Extemporaneous Speaking and closed out Public Forum Debate with his partner, Senior Daniel Kane. Daniel also won 1st place in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking.
Senior Officer Andrew Levitan won 1st place in Dramatic Interpretation, and won 2nd place in Duo Interpretation with his partner, Junior Officer Hanna Tyson. Hanna also won 1st place in Humorous Interpretation, Poetry Interpretation, and Original Poetry Interpretation.
Senior Officer Savannah Kumar won 2nd place in Lincoln-Douglas Debate.
Senior Officer Sara Wofford won 1st place in International Extemporaneous Speaking and 4th place in Congressional Debate.
Senior Officer Ariela Schnyer won 3rd place in both Original Oratory and Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking.
Seniors Kyle Ford and Eder Medina closed out Public Forum Debate.
Senior Chinmay Baxi won 4th place in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking and advanced to the quarterfinals in Public Forum Debate with his partner, Senior Adam Lang.
Junior Officer Keren Brickman won 1st place in Duo Interpretation with her partner, Junior Olivia Benton.
Senior Elizabeth McLean won 5th place in Congressional Debate.
Sophomore Caroline Builta won 1st place in Prose Interpretation, 3rd place in Dramatic Interpretation, 5th place in Original Poetry Interpretation, and 5th place in Duet Acting with her partnerSenior Officer Johanna Smith.
Sophomore Neetika Bhargava won 2nd place in Original Oratory and advanced to the quarterfinals of Public Forum Debate with her partner, Sophomore Finley Patterson.
Freshman Brandon Novy won 1st place in Novice Lincoln-Douglas Debate and was also awarded top speaker in that event.
Senior Kat Grayson won 6th place in Prose Interpretation.
Sophomore Blake Robbins won 8th place in Dramatic Interpretation.
Freshman Eli Kahan won 6th place in Novice Extemporaneous Speaking and advanced to the final round of Congressional Debate.
Freshman Nikki Dargahi won 1st place in Novice Prose Interpretation.
Freshman Matan Brickman won 3rd place in Novice Extemporaneous Speaking.
Sophomore Elise Martin won 4th place in Novice Prose Interpretation.
In my years at Anderson High School, I have not seen one team dominate a tournament quite like this. You all should be very proud of yourselves. You all have been working so hard and supporting one another. I am so proud to be able to work with this team. Keep up the good work, everyone.
Your insanely proud coach,
Joseph Uhler