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March 4, 2019
29 qualify for national speech tournament
The Upper St. Clair High School Speech & Debate team scored a tournament-high 29 qualifiers to compete in the 2019 National Catholic Forensics League Grand National Tournament. The school with the next highest number of qualifiers was North Allegheny Senior High School with 16. The national qualifying event was held on Saturday, March 2, at Fort Couch Middle School.
At 29, the Upper St. Clair team achieved the second highest number of qualifiers in school history. The USC record was set in 2016 with 33.
For the qualifying competition, each of the 27 competing schools may enter up to four competitors per category. The top six in each event qualify to advance to nationals. The NCFL Pittsburgh District encompasses the greater Pittsburgh area from Butler to Washington counties.
The 2019 NCFL Grand National Tournament will be held May 25-26, 2019, in Milwaukee, Wis.
Next up for the USC Speech & Debate Team is National Speech & Debate Association national qualifiers on March 9, 2019, at North Allegheny Senior High School. The NSDA National Tournament is set for June 16-21, 2019, in Dallas, Texas.
The results from the NCFL qualifying event are provided below:Policy Debate
Fourth Place: Will Bacdayan & Shreya Golakiya
Sixth Place: Rhea Punjabi & Ashley Eichberg
Second Alternate: Haley Beardsley & Gabi SpinaPublic Forum Debate
Second Place: Yash Jajoo & Devan Ekbote
Fourth Place: Mallika Matharu & Arushi Khaitan
First Alternate: Anika Sinha & Mathena JenckaLincoln-Douglas Debate
First Place: Matt Hornak
Third Place: Anusha NeupaneStudent Congress
First Alternate: Caroline WolfeDeclamation (9th and 10th Grade Only)
Third Place: Patrick Joyce
Fifth Place: Atharva Barve
Third Alternate: Eileen GuoDramatic Performance (Drama & Humor)
First Place (tie): Hashim Durrani
First Place (tie) Riwk Sen
Third Place: Mayka Chaves
First Alternate: Maddie NolenDuo Interpretation
Third Place: Ellen Duff & Amelia White
Fifth Place: Felipe Mola Curi & Shivani Jajoo
Sixth Place: Sammy Levy & Marlena BononiExtemporaneous Speaking
First Place: Paarth Shankar
Fifth Place: Meghan Joon
Second Alternate: Chand VadaliaOral Interpretation of Literature (Poetry & Prose)
First Place: Annika Chaves
Third Place: Charlize Goff
Second Alternate: Richa MahajanOriginal Oratory (Informative & Persuasive)
First Place: Vivek Babu
Third Place: Shanthi Krishnaswamy
Fifth Place: Aya Dakroub
Sixth Place: Neha Patel