Juan Diego debate team expects strong second half of season

With recent top results in debate tournaments in Nashville, Tenn. and Ft. Lauderdale, Fl., Juan Diego Catholic High School’s 50-member debate team is expected to continue to do well the second half of the season.

“We’ve made an entire step up from last year and now traditional national powers know who we are and recognize our talent,” said Josh Clark, Juan Diego co-director of forensics. “We’ve made a name for ourselves.”

At the invitational Montgomery Bell Academy tournament in Nashville, Jan. 7-8, (which invites top seeds in policy debate teams across the nation) seniors Richard Idriss and Katie Roberts finished ninth, likely putting them as one of the top 10 teams across the nation when the rankings are released in February, Clark said.

They also received their fourth bid for the prestigious national Tournament of Champions in early May and Richard was named the 10th best speaker out of 110.

In Florida, juniors Ryan Keenan and Sean Williams placed second in policy debate during the Crestian Round Robin, then third at the Pinecrest School Tournament, Jan. 14-15. They also were slated to compete at the Arizona State University tournament, Jan. 19-21. The duo has also earned a bid to the Tournament of Champions.

The public forum team of seniors Emmanuel Hurtado and Joe Koronkowski reached the final round, Jan. 13-14, at Bingham High’s Copper Classic, which gave them a bid for the Tournament of Champions.

“We’ve competed well locally as well as nationally, earning 84 trophies this past fall,” Clark said. “Against 5A schools this year at Jacob’s Memorial Tournament at Skyline, we won second in debate sweepstakes. It’s the only real tournament where all of Utah schools come together to compete on the same level.”

Juan Diego will host the 3A regional competition Feb. 14 at home. Afterward, Richard and Katie will fly to the San Francisco Bay Area to compete in the College Preparatory School Round Robin, Feb. 16-17. Then they will join the team at the California Invitational in Berkeley, Feb. 18-20. The team also will compete at the 3A state tournament, March 9-10, in Tooele.

“At region, we’re expected to be the favorite going in, but there will be tough competition there and at state,” Clark said. “We’re secure in how well we’ve prepared and we’re looking to repeat our state title.”

Clark estimates most debaters spend about eight to 10 hours each week preparing for tournaments. However, more may be given of those preparing for bigger tournaments. This year, each area of speech and debate has been assigned to a student captain, who also helps prepare students for competition.