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March 19, 2019
USC crowned speech and debate state champs
The Upper St. Clair High School Speech & Debate team captured its second Pennsylvania High School Speech League Championship in three years on Saturday, March 16, 2019. The team placed first in the Speech Sweepstakes Championship, second in Debate Sweepstakes and took home its second Cumulative Sweepstakes Award, the first coming in 2013.
Nearly 100 schools participated in the PHSSL Championships, which were held on the campus of Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania.
In addition to top team awards, Upper St. Clair also earned individual state championships with Paarth Shankar in Extemporaneous Speaking; Riwk Sen in Humorous Interpretation; Hashim Durrani in Dramatic Interpretation; and the team of Devan Ekbote, Mathena Jencka, and Anika Sinha in Parliamentary Debate.
The complete results are as follows:Public Forum Debate
Meghan Joon & Dina Leyzarovich, Fifth placeParliamentary Debate
Devan Ekbote, Mathena Jencka & Anika Sinha, State Champions (Undefeated 7-0)
Vivek Babu, Sunny Chai & Jami Stout, Third place (Semifinalist)
Yash Jajoo, Basir Khan & Ayush Sharma, Sixth placeHumorous Interpretation
Riwk Sen, Qualifier, State Champion
Maddie Nolen, Fourth placeDramatic Interpretation
Hashim Durrani, State Champion
Mayka Chaves, Eighth place (Semifinalist)Poetry Interpretation
Annika Chaves, Fourth place
Anoushka Sinha, 11th place (Semifinalist)Prose Interpretation
Richa Mahajan, 11th place (Semifinalist)Informative Oratory
Neha Patel, 11th place (Semifinalist)Extemporaneous Speaking
Paarth Shankar, State Champion
Atharva Barve, 11th place (Semifinalist)Commentary
Antara Cleetus, Third placeStudent Congress - House
Caroline Wolfe, Second place (Superior Speaker)Impromptu Speaking
Hridhay Reddy, 18th place (Quarterfinalist)