Bells Win Three Excellence Awards at National Speech & Debate Tournament

Posted: June 18, 2012

Sixteen Bells were among the 3000 competitors who participated in the National Speech and Debate Championships held in Indianapolis June 11-15. Our team accomplished what no other school was able to match, winning excellence awards in all three categories - Debate, Speech and All Events.

The excellence awards are based on the number of rounds completed by those members of a team who "break" after round six. Although the National Forensic League no longer awards a national title, our position as the sole recipient of all three awards does speak to the strength of our school program.

On an individual performance level, four students finaled in their events. Recent graduates Matt DeLateur and Matt Chan finished 4th in Lincoln Douglas Debate and 7th in Congressional Debate respectively. Rising seniors Madhu Vijay and Debnil Sur came in 2nd and 4th respectively in National Extemporaneous.

"Their collective work ethic is surpassed only by each individual's ability to bring his 'A game' in the toughest rounds, and the very real care and concern they have for each other and their opponents,” said Bellarmine’s Speech and Debate head coach, Kim Jones, who added that it is a “privilege” to work with these students.

In addition to Kim Jones, Bellarmine’s National Speech and Debate coaches included Bill Healy, Dee Dee Sullivan, Mikael Meyer, and Nihaal Karnik.

RESULTS

School Awards:

School of Excellence in Debate - Bellarmine was one of 20 schools to receive this award
School of Excellence in Speech - Bellarmine was one of 13 schools to receive this award
School of Excellence in All Events - Bellarmine was the only school in the nation to receive this award

Individual Results:

Lincoln Douglas Debate -
4th - Matt DeLateur
Top 30 - Ronny Mukherjee

National Extemporaneous
2nd - Madhu Vijay
4th - Debnil Sur
Top 30 - Rohan Dhoopar

International Extemporaneous
Top 30 - John Cherian
Top 30 - Aditya Limaye

Congressional Debate
7th - Matt Chan
Top 24 - Aditya Mukund

Public Forum Debate
Top 60 - Varun Gupta - Naman Trivedi

Original Oratory
Top 60 - Sri Gopakumar

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