CA’s speech and debate team is on a roll to start the year, unhampered by the move to virtual tournaments.

They made a mark at the second annual Duke University Speech and DebateTournament, held September 19-20 in a live, virtual format. Alex Lim ’22 took first place in Humorous Interpretation, Bryan Fang ’23 and Christina Polge ’22 placed fourth in JV Lincoln-Douglas and Oral Interpretation, respectively. In addition, twelve members of the team made it out of the initial rounds. The tournament hosted more than 650 entrants, representing more than 120 schools from 25 states.

At the Yale Invitational, October 2-3, Alex Lim again took first place in Humorous Interpretation, with Katherine He ’22 and Christina Polge reaching the semi-finals in Informative Speaking and Oral Interpretation, respectively. Jay Sagrolikar ’21 reached the quarter-finals in Varsity Congress.

During the first Dogwood Speech and Debate League tournament of the year, held online on October 10, CA dominated. Katherine He, Rohan Nangalia ’23, Folu Ogundipe ’22, and Christina Polge took the top spots in Informative Speaking, Novice Congress, Varsity Lincoln Douglas, and Oral Interpretation, respectively. In Novice Congress, Angelika Wang ’24 took third place with Nishant Pai ’23 taking fourth. Ritvik Nalamothu ’21 brought home fourth place in Varsity Congress. Casey Powell ’22 earned runner up in Varsity Lincoln Douglas, while Kareena Sheshadri ’23 and Andrew Lim ’24 took third and fourth, respectively, in Declamation. In Extemporaneous Speaking, Nitya Nalamothu ’23 and Julia Young ’22 earned silver and bronze. Nalamothu also took third in Impromptu Speaking. Sophia Liu ’22 was runner up in Informative Speaking and Sydney Tai ’22 secured third place in Program Oral Interpretation. In addition, 26 students reached the finals in their events and the CA team took the top spot in the Sweepstakes.