It was 13 degrees after the wind chill on Friday, but thankfully, we were able to gather Capital City’s warm atrium (see everyone there for Districts in March!)

Once we had gathered, we hit the road, off to the Pennsbury Falcon Invitational. A regular stop for the WUDL Travel team, this was our last major trip in 2020 before the pandemic sent us online for several years. It was good to be back, and a big shout out to Jeff Kahn and crew for a great tournament. 

Like previous trips, we had a bit of help meet us there. WUDL Alumni Clarke Dickens (UPenn) and Kailey Ramlal (Temple) were collected in Philly, while Zara Escobar (Yale) met us via Amtrak. My old debate partner, Jonathan “Gonzo” Gonzalez, also made the trip up from Richmond. Alums Tetia Haffner and Paris Smalley and the BASIS Coach, Messai Yigletu, also came with us. 

Highlights of our trip: 

Banneker’s Chan and Flores, 1st year debaters, matched up against the best first year debaters in the regional novice division, and did extremely well, finishing with a 4-1 record. They were the only non-Lexington team in Novice Elimination rounds, finishing as Semi-Finalists. 

This ties a WUDL record for best Novice finish with BASIS OD (last tournament at Lex), Dinkins/Cole of Stuart Hobson (Bronx Science, 2020), and Tsagenah/Chacon Reyes (EL Haynes, Pennsbury 2021). 

I was especially impressed by their ability to adapt and change their arguments based on what the other team was going to say, or what the judge’s preferences were. This flexibility will be a great trait for them going forward.

Capital City’s Birnstad and Villaflor were the best team not to advance to elimination rounds, a tough break for a pair hungry for a TOC bid. Despite not advancing, they tested some new arguments and still had a great tournament. We were pleased by the process there.  

Cardozo’s Traley / Armando became the first members of their school to attend a travel tournament…..ever. While their record didn’t look too shiny at the end of the weekend, they learned a lot, and demonstrated a lot of advanced skill. For example, multiple judges and peers commented that they had the flows of much more advanced debaters with several years more experience. 

The WUDL Travel Team hits the road again in late Feb. to the University of Georgia, and might attend the Westchester Classic in early March.