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Summit High School speech and debate hosts 1st tournament in 6 years

Jenny Arens/Courtesy photo
The Summit High School speech and debate team poses for a photo after competing in its home tournament on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024.
Jenny Arens/Courtesy photo

The Summit High School speech and debate team has come a long way over the past few years.

After not having a program three years ago, Summit High School made recent history by hosting its first speech and debate competition in six years on Saturday, Oct. 26, in Breckenridge.

Teams from across the Western Slope came to compete at Summit High School, bringing representatives from seven schools in total. As hosts of the competition, Summit competed well, placing in every event it was entered in.



While in the public forum debate, Summit competitors swept debate events. Juniors Kael Wooten and Jesse Busnardo led the way by taking first in speaker points and second overall. Freshmen Teagan Fox and El Hook Pribyl followed in third.

In the Lincoln-Douglas debate, junior Tommy Bellavance took first place, followed by sophomore Sawyer Bovaird in second.



“I had a great experience with the whole team, and I’m so grateful to have been a part of this tournament,” Bellavance said.

Senior Johnny Russo placed fourth in speaker points with Curran Mullaly following in fifth overall.

As Summit’s only competitors in domestic extemporaneous speaking, junior Henry Billinghurst grabbed first and junior Vasilya Nosirova took second.

“Extemporaneous has given me the opportunity to be a researcher, orator, arguer and entertainer simultaneously,” Billinghurst said. “The tournament was electric with thought and alive with that warm camaraderie in common intellectual interests.”

Making up half of all the congressional competitors, Summit’s congressional debate team dominated this year’s chamber. Junior Grace Gardner placed first overall, followed by junior Caleb Rode in fourth.

“I had an incredible time at our home tournament, especially because my peers, coach and captains are extremely supportive people who make all the hard work worth it and who also spend so much time making our team’s successes possible,” Gardner said. “It’s amazing to share these moments with such passionate people and I look forward to a great season.”

Freshman Jazzper Madans took home the title of best presiding officer and fifth overall. Junior Brody Bland placed sixth and was followed by junior Andy Milata and freshman Piper Rabinowitz in seventh and eighth, respectively. Freshman Carli Fischer took home an award for being a presiding officer.

“Hosting our own tournament was so fun and a huge success, and our incredible team
dominated the competition,” said head coach Jenny Arens, who helped re-found the team three years ago. “All of the competitors at these tournaments give me a true sense of hope and inspiration for our future. They are amazing minds at work. I am so proud and cannot wait to see what the rest of the season has in store for our Summit team.”

Team captains, Summit junior Heidi Wuppermann and senior Schuy ClarkArens, also expressed their pride for the growing team.

“We’ve come a long way from my freshman year,” ClarkArens said. “I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to share my love for debate to all our new and returning team members, and I’m so proud of all of our competitors for showing up and showing out.”


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