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Bellarmine Speech and Debate Recognized as One of Top 10 in the Nation at the 2026 National Speech & Debate Tournament

Bellarmine Speech and Debate Recognized as One of Top 10 in the Nation at the 2026 National Speech & Debate Tournament
the speech and debate team pose in a group with their plaques

Another incredible showing for Bellarmine Speech & Debate at the National Speech & Debate Tournament in Richmond, Virginia.

Our team earned a School of Outstanding Distinction Award, recognizing Bellarmine as one of the top 10 programs in the nation. If national sweepstakes points were calculated, Bellarmine would have finished with the highest point total in the country for the sixth consecutive year.

Some highlights included Jeffrey Bao '26 placing 2nd in Informative Speaking and winning the President's Bowl, Aidan Okyar '26 and Kevin Lu '26 placing 3rd in Policy Debate, and multiple students earning automatic qualification to next year's national tournament.

Congratulations to all of our competitors for representing Bellarmine with excellence on the national stage. 

Rohan Sontakke '27, Kabeer Kochar '27, Vihan Bhattacharjee '27, Austin Yoo '27, Kevin Lu '26, Andres Ryan '26, Aaron He '26, Coach Evan Alexis, Aidan Okyar '26, Luke Canabou '26, Justin Chang '27, Alumni Coach Surya Krishnapillai '24

 

5 speech and debates students posing with their awards

Nikhil Jayanthi '27, Aarush Gupta '26, Vedant Hathalia '27, Adhrit Tiwari '27, Xander Zverok-Chai '28

 

speech and debate students wearing suits and posing with their awards in a hallway

Aaron Kim '29, Aarush Vashi '28, Thomas Guo '26, Adyant Bhavsar '28, Ani Janakiraman '26, Nish Baleri '28, Neil Alappatt '26, Andrew Lei '27, Samuel Ma '27, Andrew Li '27