Hays High Speech and Debate students are off to a landmark year, having dominated nearly every division of competition this past weekend at the LaVernia TFA Tournament to bring home the Runner Up Sweepstakes trophy. Hays students competed against nearly 600 students representing 38 schools from around the state, and advanced students to out rounds in every division.
Students compete September through February to earn points toward state qualification to the Texas Forensic Association’s State Tournament in March. TFA State qualification is cumulative in nature, so it depends on a student’s ability to consistently perform at the top of his or her event throughout the season. The Texas Forensic Association is the largest and most prestigious state speech and debate association in the nation, making Texas speech and debate students particularly competitive on the national stage at the Tournament of Champions and National Speech and Debate Association’s National Tournament late in the spring.
This weekend Matthew Boddy picked up the team’s first state qualification of the year after earning first place in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking. Also earning honors this weekend were: Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking – Matthew Boddy 1st, Drew Cook 2nd, Evan Ricke 5th, Semifinalists: Victor Falcon and Krystal Cortez. Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking – Semifinalist: Chance Roath. Original Oratory – Sheridan Smith 5th, Clare Holland 4th, Semifinalist: Catherine Porfirio. Informative Speaking – Zoe Puertas 1st, Amelia Worrell 2nd. Lincoln Douglas Debate – Octafinalists: Holden Bukowsky and Austin Wilson. Prose – Catherine Porfirio 2nd. Student Congress – Evan Ricke 3rd, Matthew Boddy 6th. World Schools Debate – Team of Brooke Mensing, Ashley Ethridge, Riley Rutter, Kora Renfro 3rd. Team of Lauren O’Neal, Evelyn Schneider, Jax Bittner and Kevin Cervenka 1st.
The team will host their annual Jack C. Hays TFA Invitational at Hays High School on Oct 12. All volunteer judges are welcome – email Gina Lozano at [email protected] for details.
