The Hood River Valley High School Speech and Debate team took advanced students to two tournaments in October, said HRVHS Speech and Debate Coach DeLona Campos-Davis.
On Oct. 14, the team went to Wilson High School, where senior Soren Rajani won first place in Lincoln-Douglas debate and senior Mason Leavitt placed third in Extemporaneous Speaking. Senior Diego Murphy-Mendez was in the top eight of Radio Commentary, and the Public Forum debate team of Erick Lizama and Leavitt also made the top eight rankings.
The following week, on Oct. 20-21, the team competed at the Jerry Hudson Invitational Tournament on the Willamette University campus.
Senior Ruby Patterson won third place in Radio Commentary and Leavitt won first place in Extemporaneous Speaking, was the eighth place speaker in Public Forum debate, and made the final round of Prose Reading.
The team has found success in November as well, winning fifth place in Team Sweepstakes at the 16th annual Saint’s Invitational tournament hosted by Mt. Hood Community College on Nov. 4. The tournament included 25 teams from Oregon, who, together, brought more than 500 competitors. HRVHS was represented by 17 students competing in 26 events.
Individuals receiving awards included sophomore Audrey Schlemmer, who won fifth place in overall individual Sweepstakes, as well as first place in Dramatic Interpretation and first place in Duo Interpretation with junior Emily Mitchell.
Mitchell also won third place in Parliamentary Debate with Leavitt. Leavitt won fourth place in Extemporaneous Speaking. Patterson placed first in Radio Commentary. Winning in the Novice division for new speakers were sophomore Maggie Bertand, first in Poetry, and freshman Jacob Kaplan, first in Prose Reading and fourth in Radio.
Nov. 11 was the West Salem Invitational tournament, and four members of the HRVHS Advanced Travel Team competed. All placed highly in their events, said Campos-Davis. Mitchell won first place in Dramatic Interpretation and first place in Duo Interpretation with Schlemmer. Schlemmer also won third place in Dramatic Interpretation. Leavitt won second place in Extemporaneous Speaking and second place in Program Oral Interpretation, and Patterson won third place in Prose Reading and fourth in Radio Commentary.
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