JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — The Jackson Hole High School Speech and Debate Team continued its regular season accomplishments with a 3rd place finish at the Green River Invitational on December 3-4.
Ten schools competed in the meet. The Jackson team, under the coaching of Londe Gagnon and Peggy Gagnon, advanced several students to semi and final rounds and earned an overall 86 points for the team sweepstakes. Natrona County (Casper) took 2nd with 89 points, and Evanston was the overall winner in 4A with 99 points.
Senior and team captain William Aepli again led the way for Jackson. He placed 1st in extemporaneous speaking for the second tournament in a row.
Aepli and fellow team captain Lily Briggs grabbed the top spot in Public Forum Debate—also the second straight time the duo has done so. Fellow team captain and senior Carter Worcester placed 3rd in Public Forum Debate with his partner freshman Case Meaney. These debate students spent the weekend arguing the benefits and harms of government regulation of cryptocurrency.
In varsity Lincoln-Douglas Debate, debating the pros and cons of the unconditional right to strike, Sophie Lamb placed 5th and, in the Novice category of the event, freshman Oscar Andersen placed 5th.
Junior Alexis Hernandez took 3rd in Extemporaneous speaking and 6th in Original Oratory—a new event for him. In Informative Speaking, junior Bohdan Barnett placed 3rd for his exploration of the origins of mythological creatures, and junior Ary Jimenez Garcia nailed down 5th place for her investigation on coffee.
The team also had great success again this weekend in Congressional Debate where Carter Worcester topped the podium. Lily Briggs placed 2nd, junior Sophie Lamb ended up in 4th, and sophomore James Neishabouri placed 8th. Junior Maya Worcester reached the finals round of Varsity Congress as well. In the Novice category of Congressional Debate, freshman Ben Moffet placed 6th and freshman Jasper Brandenburg placed 4th.
Carter Worcester had additional success in Duet with his duet partner junior Bohdan Barnett. The pair placed 4th. Maya Worcester took 3rd with her duet partner Ventura Garcia Perez. Juniors and Duet partners Julieta Anaya Aguilar and Blanca Sartillo Mejia excelled in this event, placing 2nd. In addition, Blanca Sartillo Mejia reached semifinals in Program Oral Interpretation.
Anaya Aguilar also placed 5th in Drama. Junior Nicole Checker placed 3rd in the same event. Rounding out these successes in the interpretation categories, Sophomore Sascha Mizelle placed 2nd in Humor
Assistant coach Peggy Gagnon summarized the weekend, saying, “The diversity of the team in multiple events was apparent again at this tournament. Our hardworking, dedicated and talented individual students continue to display that they are supportive of each other and successful as a team. We are excited to grow as a team as our competitors in the state continue to challenge us.”
