This was the first time in school history the Explorers had ever competed in the Magnolia State. 

 

Making a statement in Varsity Lincoln Douglas Debate, senior Jesus Capo and junior William Duval were in the top 8 seeds of the tournament after preliminary rounds and advanced into the Quarterfinals. Both debaters took care of business in Quarters against debaters from Hattiesburg and Oak Grove High School, before unfortunately being paired against one another in the semi finals of the tournament. As is our team policy, we advanced the higher seed without debating and Jesus Capo was selected for the final round. Jesus ended up losing the final round on a close decision against Starkville High. A big congratulations to Jesus and William for finishing in 2nd and 3rd place. This was William’s first national tournament and only his second tournament in Lincoln-Douglas, which is especially impressive. 

 

In Student Congressional Debate, senior JP Gutierrez advanced to finals out of a stacked preliminary chamber with competitors including the returning Mississippi state champion and multiple national finalists. JP made it to finals giving an impassioned and well researched speech on fuel emission standards and ultimately finished in the top 10 ranking of the final chamber. This was also JP’s first national tournament, and he becomes the first Columbus Explorer to advance to a final round in Student Congress at a national tournament in almost a decade (since 2010).

 

Also competing over the weekend were seniors Diego Ortega & Kori Santiago along with juniors Sebastian Lasaga, Gabriel Perez, Nicolas Sosa, and Marcel Van Hemert. This tournament was unique in that each student competed in multiple events across the weekend in both speech and debate, so it was a particularly exhausting weekend. We had students competing in Policy Debate, Humorous Interpretation, Extemporaneous Speaking, and Impromptu.

 

Throughout this weekend we drove over 450 miles across four states (GA, AL, MS, TN) and debated for over 20 hours of competition waking up at 6 am and going to bed around midnight for 3 days straight. Please be mindful of these details when dealing with these students trying to make up work and get back into their routine.