On Saturday, Feb. 3, the AHS Speech and Debate team continued their tradition of success at the Spring Varsity Speech Tournament. The competition was hosted by AHS with the help of student volunteers from the National Honors Society and Senior Men & Women. The tournament began at 8 a.m. and competitors mainly consisted of students from schools around San Gabriel Valley.

The tournament proceeded through a competition of three rounds, after which opponents were eliminated down to the semi-finals where speakers performed their pieces once more. Then, they were narrowed down to the final round subsequently. After all events were completed, the remaining competitors progressed to the North Gym for the awards ceremony. As expected, the AHS Speech and Debate team performed miraculously, scoring 2nd place in sweepstakes as well as earning spots in other categories. Seniors Lauren Sorian and Yves Shen placed 5th in Duo Interpretation, sophomore William Lee placed 4th in Original Advocacy, and junior Calvin Nguyen placed 4th in Expository. Not only was the tournament a success for AHS’ competitors, but the overall event had an excellent turnout.

Freshman Conner Hua described his favorite part of the tournament being the “food, atmosphere, and thrill of competing.” Chanos, a taco company, typically caters AHS’ speech tournaments. “The food is super good and gets me excited to compete!” Conner also described the atmosphere at speech tournaments as “extremely fun and loving,” saying that he loves “walking into school and seeing hundreds of high school students in suits dedicated to simply speaking.” Finally, he added that “I extremely enjoy the thrill of speaking and competing. The night before tournaments I am often restless with excitement to compete again.”

Overall, each member of the Speech and Debate team did a marvelous job at giving their best efforts in contributing to the team. The end result was definitely a reflection of all the hard work that was put into every performance. Every member devoted large amounts of time towards preparing for the tournament and, trophy or not, they gained valuable information and experience to aid them in growing as speakers. Congratulations to Speech and Debate on their success at the Spring Varsity tournament! To support the Speech and Debate team, make sure to attend Speech Follies on Mar. 22 to 24 at 7 p.m. in the Lecture Hall.