After a long and challenging weekend at the Dragon a few weeks ago, WUDL JV and Varsity debaters took a break, joining the judge pool for a great weekend at Theodore Roosevelt High School. We’re glad they did, with more than 350 beginners eager to be mentored! 

Big shout out to Teddy Roosevelt High School for hosting their first tournament, especially to 1st year Coach Aramis Sanchez for coordinating. 

This tournament was exciting, with many schools making their debut: 

• Mergenthaler High School (Baltimore) – Coached by Mike Stanik and old WUDL friend Victoria Patch
• Jefferson-Houston (Brittany Fraser) and Patrick Henry (Tyron Barnes) Middle Schools from Alexandria, as we continue expanding across the river into Virginia. 
• SimmieRay Soulemymane Niang-Dinkins (Kettering) and Dieter Lhemann Morales (Columbia Heights) have recently taken over well established programs, and made their coaching debuts, while Darren Riley’s Washington Kappa debaters also came to their first competition.  

Teams from all of our newcomers won rounds, and most won awards! 

A few JV students who didn’t make it to the Dragon wanted to compete this weekend, so shout outs to:

David and Ilenia (Eleanor Roosevelt), Zaria and Jewel (Kettering), and Mikayla and Robyn (KIPP Shaw) for pacing the division. 

See this article to learn more about the first regular season Debate En Espanol Division. 

In Novice: 

Franklyn / Noah (Charles Flowers), Livia /  Magali (E. Roosevelt), Sherlyn / Brisol (Duke Ellington) Gary  / Che (John Francis), and Khloe / Lisbeth (Banneker) paced the division, going undefeated! 

Shout outs: 

• Emma and Amelia (MacFarland) as our top 3-1 team in their first Novice tournament. Their goal is to go to Middle School Nationals. Emma was the 3rd overall speaker, while Amelia was 11th. 
• Avigail / Vincent and Melina / Itoroobong (Kettering) for a great showing, despite a late start to the season! 
• Elijah / Eon from Mergenthaler (Mervo) High School finished 3-1, leading the way for their school’s debut. We’re excited to continue expanding into Baltimore and rebuilding the strong debate legacy of Baltimore public schools. 

In Rookie: 

We had an incredible 13 (!) teams go undefeated: 

Louisa / Riley and Skylar / Caroline, (Eliot Hine), Aria and Ruby (John Francis), Alyaan / Conor (Seneca Valley), Keza / Eleina (Oyster Adams), Jacques / Zarah, Arianna and Ali (Capitol Hill Montessori), Fares / Sana and Bella / Amatul (Francis Hammond), Lincoln / Tasnia (Jefferson Houston), Scarlett / Jasmine (Hardy), Erin / Andrea, Samantha / Makenna (Redlands), a remarkable diversity of strong teams! 

Shout outs to: 

• Nolan / Kye (Center City Petworth), Nadia / Mikael (Washington Latin Cooper), Jack / Levent (Oyster Adams), Moriah / Kenadi and Franklyn / Lenoxx (Stuart Hobson), Yesli / Nyla (Patrick Henry), Jaxon and Meadow (College Park Academy) and Ayman / Marie (Center City Shaw) for winning records without teammates winning awards. 

Lastly, thank you to the 45(!) intrepid experienced debaters that got a chance to judge this weekend: 

Kayla, Nicolle, Theodore, Chris, Jadon, Adunola, Henry, Mahder, Saron, Aadhik, Chardonae, Jackson, Marcus, Sarah, Jane, Rita, Arielle, Haeven, Au’Rea, Nate, Toumani, Ian, Max, James, Isabelle, Leah, Zaire, Nathaniel, Marianne, Marco, Antonio, Abraham, Ella, Jack, Leah, Louise, Bobby, Marshall, Alex, Jack, Raegan, Addie, Norman, Rohan, and Ayaan. 

We’ll see you on the road to NY after Thanksgiving!