Health & Fitness
National Success Continues for HHS Debate Team
Harrison High School’s Debate Team continues to be a national presence in the Lincoln-Douglas debate format. Varsity debaters are exploring unchartered territories and the younger generations of HHS debaters are blazing their own trails.
In late September, senior Danny DeBois placed 2nd in the nation and was named the top speaker in the Dallas, Texas Greenhill Classic, featuring over 100 debaters from across the country. Danny also placed 2nd in the event’s Greenhill Round Robin tournament, an invitational tournament featuring the top 16 debaters in the country. As a result of his cumulative success at these two tournaments, Danny has retained his National Forensic League ranking as the #1 Lincoln-Douglas debater in the country.
The younger generation of HHS debaters began their competitive season participating in tournaments at Yale University and Monticello High School. In the JV division at Yale, sophomore Ella Eisenger placed 9th, reaching elimination rounds as the top seed and the only JV debater with a 6-0 record in preliminary rounds. Sophomore Kathryn Kenny started her season in the varsity division and cleared elimination rounds as one of the top 50 debaters in a field of 143 entries.
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At the Monticello High School competition, six Harrison debaters attended and dominated the tournament with all six clearing to elimination rounds. Harrison represented five of the eight quarterfinalists and three of the four semifinalists. Sophomore Ella Eisenger reached the top 12 and was named the tournament’s 5th place speaker. Sophomores Bea Almeida, Kathryn Kenny, and Evan Burger reached the top 8 with Evan advancing based on seeding. Evan reached the top 4 and was named the tournament’s 9th place speaker.
Junior Amy Geller also reached the top 4 and was paired against teammate sophomore Sarah Ryan who advanced to the final based on seeding. Amy was named the tournament’s 5th place speaker and Sarah was the tournament’s runner-up and 2nd place speaker. Kathryn Kenny was named the tournament’s top speaker.
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On October 17th – 20th, Danny DeBois captured 2nd place at both the Bronx Round Robin, an invitational for the top 12 national debaters, and the New York City Invitational Debate tournaments. The New York City Invitational featured 160 debaters from across the country and Sarah Ryan, Kathryn Kenny, and Elyssa Alfieri joined Danny in this varsity competition, posting excellent preliminary round showings.
On Saturday, October 26, Harrison will have 14 novices compete for the first time at Regis High School. This record number of participants highlights the explosion of popularity this program has generated in its short existence as an extracurricular team at Harrison High School.