For the first time since 2014, the Bellarmine College Prep Speech and Debate team has earned the title State Champions, marking the school’s 19th time doing so and again securing its solid reputation as a speech and debate powerhouse.
A team of 58 Bellarmine students competed in 48 entries during the California High School Speech Association State Championship held April 29 through May 1. Of those competing, 40 students in 34 entries broke to elimination rounds earning points towards the overall sweepstakes. “This state championship title was truly a team effort,” noted head coach Aaron Langerman.
“Special kudos to our seniors, who were able to keep the momentum of this team going despite all the challenges that Covid has posed over the past two years, especially with tournaments continuing to be virtual,” said Langerman. “With their leadership and example, our team was finally able to do what seemed impossible a few years ago and regain the State Championship title.”
The State Championship came on the heels of the Bellarmine team’s success at the Tournament of Champions held two weekends prior. In that tournament, students who have acquired two or more bids at national invitational tournaments were invited to compete against the top speech and debaters in the country. “Even qualifying for this tournament is a huge culminating achievement, let alone reaching elimination rounds,” noted Langerman, who had special acknowledgment to the extemp participants and his coaching colleagues, “… for having the largest number of entries of any school at the tournament and for getting so many guys into the elimination rounds – that’s a testament to the behemoth of a team that DeeDee Sullivan’s coaching has produced.”
The National Championship Tournament takes place in June in Louisville, Kentucky.
In addition to Mr. Langerman and Dr. Sullivan, the Speech and Debate coaching team includes Matt DeLateur ‘12, Vern Cleary, Xavier Liu ’17, Tyler Vergho ’19, Adarsh Hiremath ’21, and Surya Midha ’21.
State Championship results are as follows:
Total Sweepstakes:
- 1st place – Bellarmine College Prep – 130 points
- 2nd place – Archbishop Mitty HS – 121 points
- 3rd place – James Logan HS – 104 points
- 4th place – Gabrielino – 66 points
- 5th place – Leland – 52 points
International Extemp:
- Rohit Vakkalagadda ’24 – 1st place, state champion!
- Majid Shabbeer ’22 – 2nd place
- Oliver Owen ’23 – 7th place
- Joseph Thomas ’23 – semifinalist
- Francis Olakangil ’23 – semifinalist
Original Oratory:
- John Xu ’22 – 1st place, state champion!
- Michael Lutz ’22 – 7th place
- Arthur Tu ’25 – semifinalist
Policy Debate:
- Akhil Iyengar ’22 and Ram Gorthi ’22 – 1st place, state champions!
- Ben Manens ’22 and Nimai Talur ’22 – quarterfinalists (top 8)
- Nihaal Konda ’23 and Jeremy Wang ’23 – octafinalists (top 16)
- Surya Krishnapillai ’24 and Rohan Lingam ’24 – octafinalists (top 16)
Lincoln-Douglas Debate:
- Arshon Keyani ’23 – semifinalist (top 4)
Congressional Debate:
- Veer Juneja ’22 – Outstanding PO (1st place)
- Varun Vemulapalli ’23 – 3rd place
- Jason Cappelloni ’22 – semifinalist
- Vincent Nguyen ’25 – semifinalist
National Extemp:
- Kush Narang ’22 – 3rd place
- Anthony Reynolds ’22 – semifinalist
- Owen Thompson ’22 – semifinalist
- Arnav Sunil ’23 – semifinalist
Duo Interp:
- Rishi Dinesh ’23 and Shiven Pandey ’23 – 6th place
- Finbarr Donovan ’22 and Devansh Bansal ’22 – semifinalists
Humorous Interp:
- Tyler Chin ’24 – semifinalist
- Varnit Dutta ’25 – semifinalist
- Neal Dwivedula ’23 – semifinalist
Impromptu:
- Arnav Dhingra ’23 – 3rd place
- Ani Mani ’23 – semifinalist
Informative:
- Owen Botkin ’23 – semifinalist
- Gavin Griffin ’24 – semifinalist
Original Advocacy:
- Armon Bhau ’23 – semifinalist
Oratorical Interp:
- Nathan Kang ’22 – 2nd place
- JohnPaul Mitiguy ’23 – semifinalist
Original Prose and Poetry:
- Ian Knight ’23 – semifinalist
Tournament of Champions results are as follows:
Congressional Debate:
- Veer Juneja ’22 – 2nd place
- Varun Vemulapalli ’23 – quarterfinalist
Extemp:
- Kush Narang ’22 – 6th place
- Majid Shabbeer ’22 – semifinalist
- Rohit Vakkalagadda ’24 – semifinalist
- Anthony Reynolds ’22 – quarterfinalist
- Francis Olakangil ’23 – octafinalist
- Joseph Thomas ’23 – octafinalist
- Ryan Alappatt ’22 – octafinalist
Original Oratory:
- Michael Lutz ’22 – semifinalist
- Saketh Dasaradhi ’24 – quarterfinalist
- John Xu ’22 – quarterfinalist
Informative:
- Owen Botkin ’23 – semifinalist
Policy Debate:
- Akhil Iyengar ’22 and Ram Gorthi ’22 – octafinalists (top 16)
- Ben Manens ’22 and Nimai Talur ’22 – octafinalists (top 16)
Lincoln-Douglas Debate:
- Arshon Keyani ’23 – double octafinalist (top 32)