Barstow’s Varsity Debaters persevere through their first tournament of the season.
Bright and early on Friday, October 7, the Varsity Debate Squad finished their final preparations and packed up the bus for their first season trip to Trevian Invitational, hosted by New Trier Township High School in Winnetka, Illinois.
The tournament started its first round at 9:00 AM, launching the debate season into gear. While all five teams lost their first rounds, it definitely gave them an idea of what to expect. It also helped build teamwork between the teams, as all of Barstow’s teams at the tournament were new partnerships. Despite the new partnerships, varsity coach, Ms. Lucia Scott, believes, “While there were a lot of uncertainties going into the tournament, most of them were figured out that weekend.”
Most schools participating in the Trevian Invitational had started the season earlier. Missouri starts the debate season later, causing the teams to be at a slight disadvantage. The Trevian invitational is already a difficult tournament, as the best teams in the country attend. It was made even more difficult since it was most of the students’ first varsity tournament.
One of the second-year debaters and new varsity student, Haddie Schedler (‘25), says, “We got humbled real fast,” as she and her partner, Mahek Vora (‘25), won one of the six preliminary rounds.
Similarly, partners Ava Levin (‘24) and Tyler Bauman (‘25) as well as Ava Adams-Huang (‘25) and Kimberly Nguyen (‘23) also won one round. Rishabh Sood and Aaryan Gadit (‘25) won two rounds, and partners Quinn Luce (‘23) and Paranjay Sharma (‘24) won three.
Although the tournament wasn’t ideal, the team attempted to stay positive. Ms. Scott added, “I think the spirit at Trevian was a bit unsure because we have so many younger debaters, but we persevered through it.”
Nonetheless, students enjoyed the tournament, as it was the first in-person debate tournament for many of them. Junior Ava Levin thoroughly enjoyed the tournament, saying, “I think Trevian went really well. It was really exciting for me because it was the first in person tournament I’ve been to and I got to go with a new partner. I’m proud of all of the effort we put in and think the season will only improve from here.”
The team expects continued improvement at future tournaments. Make sure to wish the team good luck before their next tournament in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Halloween weekend.
