Twenty-four Bridgewater-Raritan High School Forensics students attended the Summit Hilltopper Speech & Debate tournament on December 14. The tournament, sponsord  by Summit High School, featured students from various schools.

Alben Fischer, one of the Bridgewater-Raritan High School Forensics advisors, summarizes the tournament succinctly.

“The Summit tournament had a great showing for both speech and debate,” he said.

Shiven Das and Luhang Liu placed fifth in Parliamentary debate, Sreyash Sinha and Luvyakrish Manche placed fourth in JV Public Forum debate, Dhruv Rakade took second in Novice Lincoln Douglas debate, Paras Gawas placed second in JV Lincoln Douglas debate and Ovia Dushyanthan placed first in JV Lincoln Douglas debate.

The Summit tournament is all about Speech; the best in the state showed up to complete. Bridgewater broke with Siyona Naidu taking second place in Varsity Impromptu Speaking and fifth place in Varsity Original Oratory. Ridhi Pothu secured sixth place in Varsity Original Oratory, and Achyut Nuli placed fourth in Varsity Original Oratory.

Luhang Liu commented on his first break.

“I felt that it was a great opportunity to test my debate skills. I received great feedback from the judges, and the tournament theme was very well conveyed,” he said.

Anvay Ajmera also shared his feelings about the competition.

“I had an amazing time competing with my friends, and the experience of breaking was truly unforgettable. It’s been a fantastic journey so far, and I’m excited to keep pushing forward and extend my streak even further!” he said.

The speech and debate team will have its next tournament at Hunterdon Central  Regional High School on January 11.