There’s no debate: Cody’s speech and debate team gave themselves an early Christmas gift with a stellar performance in a competitive tournament.
The Cody High School speech and debate team participated in the Cheyenne East Holiday Classic Tournament, held from Friday, Dec. 18 thru Saturday, Dec. 19. Due to the ongoing pandemic, all the team’s tournaments are held virtually with students being judged via internet video calls.
Unlike most of their statewide peers, who participate from their own homes, the Cody team has been meeting together at the high school. Perhaps that’s their secret to speaking success.
The team, lead by senior Hannah Blasco, had a stellar showing at last weekend’s tournament, particularly amongst its Novice participants. All students in their first year of high school competition, regardless of grade or prior experience, compete as novices.
Juniors Paula Medina and Justin Wiegand got 3rd Place in Novice Public Forum Debate, while sophomore Sarah Murray placed 3rd in Novice Informative Speaking.
Head coach Carter Reed is extremely excited about these individual performances but emphasizes that this success was a team effort.
“There were 58 schools at this tournament,” Reed said. “Despite being a majority novice team, Cody took second place overall in the 3A division. Even our team members who didn’t place contributed points to our overall score, which led to this great performance.”
The Speech and Debate season began in October 2020 and continues into March 2021. Students meet at least twice a week to work on their skills and writing in anticipation of weekend tournaments, which typically take them across the state.
If this tournament is any indicator, they’ve got quite the future in 2021 and beyond.
