The Bridgewater-Raritan High School Speech and Debate Team competed on February 3 at Freehold Township High School, bringing home multiple awards.
There were a total of 65 Bridgewater-Raritan students who competed at the tournament, and it was the first time in four years that Bridgewater competed at Freehold Township High School. This was also one of the farthest tournaments that BRHS went to as a school this year.
Despite the long bus ride to the tournament and the 30-minute traffic delay, the Bridgewater-Raritan team won multiple awards for the school. Out of the 11 competing schools, Bridgewater ranked in fourth place.
In Novice Congressional Debate, sophomore Kausthub Potturi placed fifth. In Varsity Congressional Debate, senior Nikhita Raj captured first place , junior Veda Viswanath placed fifth, sophomore Anushka Chaudhary placed eighth, sophomore Colin Hawley finished 10th and junior Varsha Chirra placed 13th. Congressional Debate is a political emulation where a group of debaters role-play as senators and representatives, each sharing their stances on American bills and policies.
In Varsity Duo Interpretation, the junior pair of Sonika Sunkara and Guntas Brar placed fifth. Duo Interpretation is a speech event in which two high school students perform a 10 minute story or play focused on interactions and relationships in front of a panel of judges, who then rate their performances on a scale of 1–10 on specific elements of their speech.
In Junior Varsity Lincoln Douglas (LD), two freshmen, Advika Prakash and Sanvi Parikh, secured fourth and fifth place respectively. In Varsity LD, junior Saanvi Goel won first while junior Riya Shenvi placed fifth place. LD is a debate event in which high school students have a one-on-one philosophical debate, taking the affirmative or negative side on a global topic. The LD topic for January and February was whether the U.S. should substantially reduce its military presence in the West Asia–North Africa region.
In Junior Varsity Public Forum (PF), sophomore duo Marko Gvozdenovic and Anik Shah won first. Meanwhile, two sophomore duos placed fourth and fifth: Hrishi Patel and Jasmeet Singh and Lingesh Sashi Kumar and Neel Tandon. In Varsity PF, junior duo Andy Wang and Sameer Tijare won first while Abhay Sankar and Atharva Makode placed fifth place. PF is a debate event in which high school students have a two-on-two factual debate, taking the affirmative or negative side on a global topic. The PF topic for February was whether the federal government should ban single-use plastics.
In Varsity Original Oratory (OO), juniors Sriridhi Pothu and Madison McInerney placed fourth and sixth respectively. OO is a speech event in which students make a 7–10 minute presentation of their choice containing ethos, pathos and logos to convey the message. There are about three to six different competitors in each of the four rounds, in which a panel of judges rate their performance on a scale of 1 to 10 on specific elements of their speech.
Sophomore Lingesh Sashi Kumar shared his experience at the tournament.
“My experience at this tournament was amazing, and I felt really good about my break. I hope to move forward and get more wins,” he said.
Sophomore Anik Shah also reflected on his progress as a debater.
“My debate partner, Marko and I have progressed through hard work and practice debates. It was a big weekend for me, especially since Sunday was my birthday, but our hard work has paid off, and we will continue to do our best in the next tournaments.”
