After four state qualifying tournaments, the team was ready to defend their state title at the 2017 CHSSA State Tournament in Arcadia, California! With 46 competitors - the most in the Coast Forensics League as well as the most in MSD history - we were ready for what was to come! Let’s take a look at how it all went down…
In the weeks leading up to the tournament, we practiced during class and after school almost daily – working hard on our pieces and our cases.
The week of the tournament brought the always fun, Parent Potluck. All 46 competitors and their families met for amazing food and game night where every competitor also took a few minutes to talk about what Speech and Debate meant for them. We also found out our State Rooming Buddies and Sweethearts as well! A HUGE thank you to the Lewis family for hosting this memorable event!
After weeks of anticipation, the day had come for the team to head to Southern California for the tournament. After two stops and a delicious dinner with our State Sweethearts, we arrived at the hotel the night before our first rounds of competition.
Following MSD tradition, Senior Speeches were given by every graduating senior. The speeches were broadcast on Instagram so the entire team back home could enjoy the reflections live. Each speech left everyone energized and thankful for this activity.
Before day one of competition, everyone was given their tangible metaphors for the weekend. Each competitor was given a bag with notes from their peers which served to truly pump everyone up the night before. Thanks to everyone who wrote the kind words and gave us the cute gifts!
The next two days brought the preliminary rounds of competition in both speech and debate. After more than a hundred combined preliminary rounds by the team, it was time for the breaks to semifinals in speech. With a difficult cut from the top 56 competitors to the top 18, the night was emotional, but the breaks, as always, were phenomenal:
Semifinalists in International Extemporaneous: Eshan Gupta and Mukil Pari
Semifinalists in National Extemporaneous: Charlie Pyle and Rahul Devarapalli
Semifinalist in Impromptu: Vedant Vamshidhar
Semifinalist in Original Advocacy: Darya Kaviani
Semifinalist in Original Oratory: Cassie Korb
Semifinalists in Dramatic Interpretation: Conor Sherry, Erica Johnson and Shanaya Sales
Semifinalists in Humorous Interpretation: Amelia Whitney, John Lahey and Julian Sanghvi
Semifinalists in Oratorical Interpretation: Draigh Ricketson and Anna Wymbs
Semifinalists in Thematic Interpretation: Colin Anderson, Nkem Nnam, Emma Skeet and Madelyn Davis
Semifinalists in Duo Interpretation: Pranavi Javangula and Esha Bhatia, Naman Dandia and Jake Ledger
Semifinalists in Original Prose and Poetry: Paige Decena and Fiona Pestana
Semifinalists in Congressional Debate: Siddhant Gannu
Also, Congratulations to the following debate teams:
Anish Patel and Aayush Sutaria for advancing to Round 4 in Parliamentary Debate.
Arushi Lahiri and Kirthi Ponuswammy for advancing to Round 4 in Policy Debate.
Murad Awad and Liyang Chen for advancing to Round 5 in Policy Debate.
Eshan Gupta and Aditi Chatradhi for advancing to Round 6 in Policy Debate.
Darya Kaviani and Roshni Varma for advancing to Round 6 in Public Forum Debate.
After a difficult semifinal round the next morning, the team gathered in a circle to find out who our 2017 state finalists would be! After a difficult cut from the top 18 competitors to the top 7, the following were MSD state finalists:
Original Oratory Finalist: Cassandra Korb
Humorous Interpretation Finalist: Amelia Whitney
Oratorical Interpretation Finalist: Draigh Ricketson
Dramatic Interpretation Finalist: Erica Johnson
Thematic Interpretation Finalists: Colin Anderson and Madelyn Davis
Duo Interpretation Finalist: Pranavi Javangula and Esha Bhatia
Congressional Debate Finalist: Siddhant Gannu
Public Forum Finalists: Koji Flynn-Do and Jolie Leung
After all the finalists gave incredible performances with passion and energy, it now came time for awards! After 3 days of intense competition, congratulations to ALL the competitors. The full results…
Dramatic Interpretation:
3rd place - Erica Johnson
8th place - Conor Sherry
9th place - Shanaya Sales
Duo Interpretation:
1st place - Pranavi Javangula and Esha Bhatia
11th place - Jake Ledger and Naman Dandia
Humorous Interpretation:
4th place - Amelia Whitney
14th place - Julian Sanghvi
17th place - John Lahey
Impromptu:
14th place - Vedant Vamshidhar
International Extemporaneous:
9th place - Eshan Gupta
12th place - Mukil Pari
National Extemporaneous:
12th place - Charlie Pyle
18th place - Rahul Devarapalli
Oratorical Interpretation:
4th place - Draigh Ricketson
13th place - Anna Wymbs
Original Advocacy:
9th place - Darya Kaviani
Original Prose and Poetry:
8th place - Fiona Pestana
9th place - Paige Decena
Original Oratory:
7th place - Cassandra Korb
Thematic Interpretation:
1st place - Madelyn Davis
3rd place - Colin Anderson
10th place - Emma Skeet
18th place - Nkem Nnam
Congressional Debate:
2nd place - Siddhant Gannu
Policy Debate:
8th place - Eshan Gupta & Aditi Chatradhi
13th place - Murad Awad & Liyang Chen
Public Forum Debate:
2nd place - Koji Flynn-Do & Jolie Leung
8th place - Darya Kaviani & Roshni Varma
Team Sweepstakes:
1st place - Archbishop Mitty
At the end of the day, we emerged with TWO STATE CHAMPIONS! Junior Madelyn Davis in Thematic Interpretation as well as Junior Esha Bhatia and Senior Pranavi Javangula in Duo Interpretation. In addition, Mitty Speech and Debate defended their state title and for the second consecutive year, were named the TOP Speech and Debate school in California!!
After the awards ceremony, the team headed to Dave and Busters for a bit of post awards fun – food, games, dancing and team bonding!
The next morning, the team headed back home with smiles on their faces and unforgettable memories. A huge thank you for those who made this possible – family, friends, teachers, coaches and the Mitty administration. This wouldn’t have been possible without the constant love, support and guidance.
