JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — The Jackson Hole High School Speech and Debate Team landed a 1st-place finish in 4A at the Bobcat Invitational at Hot Springs County High School last weekend. With 11 schools in attendance, Jackson earned an overall 68 points for the team sweepstakes.
Junior Ventura Garcia Perez was triumphant in Congressional Debate where he walked away as the champion. He also found great success in Lincoln Douglas Debate, debating whether or not the appropriation of outer space by private entities is unjust. Ultimately, he finished in 3rd place.
Senior and team captain Will Aepli earned the title of champion in Extemporaneous Speaking. Aepli joined partner, fellow senior and team captain, Lily Briggs in Public Forum Debate where they tied for 3rd place. Joining them in the tie were sophomores Jackson and James Neishabouri. Juniors Alexis Hernandez and Jheili Montiel Huerta placed 2nd in the event. The debate teams spent the weekend arguing both sides of whether or not Turkey’s membership is beneficial to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Hernandez went on to place 4th in Extemporaneous Speaking and 6th in Original Oratory. Briggs placed 3rd in Congressional Debate. James Neishabouri and freshman Ben Moffett reached the finals round of the event as well.
Home results
The team traveled with just 11 members of the 22-member team and is coming off the heels of hosting their own tournament Feb 4-5.
The Jackson tournament hosted several unique events and several members of the JHHS team found success at the home tournament. Garcia Perez joined partners Jackson Neishabouri and junior Maya Worcester to bring home 2nd place in World Schools Debate.
Senior and team captain Carter Worcester, along with senior Sarah Schweitzer “closed out” Extemporaneous Debate, tying for 1st place. The JHHS squad also swept the top of the podium in Editorial Commentary with Apeli placing 1st, junior Ary Jimenaez Garcia taking 2nd, Carter Worcester coming in 3rd, and Schweitzer finishing in 4th place.
In Original Spoken Word Poetry, Briggs placed 7th. Juniors Julieta Anaya and Nicole Checker finished in 4th and 3rd place, respectively. Anaya went on to place 2nd in Storytelling. Garcia Perez placed 6th in the event, with James Neishabouri and freshman Oscar Andersen reaching semifinals. And, finally, Prose Interpretation saw Moffet placing 6th, Briggs placing 5th, while Jackson Neishabouri and freshman Jasper Brandenburg tied for 3rd place.
Next up
The team travels this upcoming weekend to Riverton. With only three tournaments remaining until the culminating State and National Qualifying tournaments, the team looks to add to their season’s accomplishments under the coaching of Peggy and Londe Gagnon.
