Christopher Columbus High School

A Catholic School for Young Men in the Marist Tradition since 1958
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Columbus Debate Starts Season with 1st Place Finish

The Columbus novices and junior varsity debaters kicked off the tournament season at the Flying L invitational at Fort Lauderdale High School. 

Competing against schools all over the tri-county area, we had 26 students competing in six events with 22 of the students competing for the first time.
 
Leading the way for the novice debaters, in novice Lincoln-Douglas sophomore Carlos Gutierrez finished in first place as the only undefeated debater in the tournament. Carlos had big wins against Cypress Bay, Stoneman Douglas, South Plantation and West Broward High school. Not far behind, the rest of the novice LD squad had a great weekend all finishing with 2-2 records. New comer Ryan Yglesias finished 6th place in novice LD. Other LD competitors finshing 2-2 were Junior Charles Gannon and Freshman Aidan Romero. Javier Hernandez and Carlos Novo competed in the varsity division. 
 
Also making the highlight reel, junior Matt Rockwell made his debating debut finishing 2nd place in novice Mixed Extemporaneous speaking. This is a huge accomplishment against a deep pool of competitors from regional powerhouses such as Nova High School, and Cypress Bay. Also premiering in novice mixed extemp, junior Anthony Yip  had a great first tournament. 
 
In Novice Policy debate, the sophomore team of Andrew Castro and Giancarlos Miguel had an outstanding tournament finishing in 3rd place with a 2-2 record. The policy debaters were arguing for changes in education policy, specifically the Title I formula. In Varsity policy debate, the team of Andres Perez and Marcos Ortega had a challenging tournament against varsity teams from North Broward Prep and finished in 5th place overall.   
 
In Big Questions debate, we had two student make it into the top 6. In 5th place we had Michael Denis and in 6th place Fernando Mendoza. Each of the debaters in Big Questions came away with at least 1 win. Competing in Big Questions we had Chris Anderson, Andres Miranda, Evan Rumi, and Luis Romero. 
 
Making a debut in Original Oratory, freshman Caden Serrato wrote a touching piece tackling the Healthcare crisis in America. He finished one of his rounds in 2nd place, but slightly missed placing in the top 5 of the tournament. 
 
The varsity squad competes next weekend, when Coach Ciocca takes the team to the Holy Cross tournament at the University of New Orleans. 
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Christopher Columbus High School | 3000 SW 87 Avenue | Miami, FL 33165 | (305) 223-5650
Brotherhood, Faith, and Scholarship define the Marist Brothers Catholic education at Christopher Columbus High School.  By making Jesus Christ known and loved and creating an inspiring academic and extracurricular environment, we prepare young men for higher learning and a life-long commitment to leadership and service through Gospel and Marist values.

Columbus is fully accredited by Cognia and is a member of the Marist Association of Secondary schools, the National Catholic Education Association and the Independent Schools of South Florida.