AVHS Continuing a Successful Year in Debate!
Congratulations to the Apple Valley Debate Team on its recent successes at invitational tournaments.
At the Henry Sibley Invitational on October 31, the Eagles took home a substantial amount of hardware. In the varsity LD division, Apple Valley took three of the top five slots, with junior Sean Cheren, sophomore John Granlund, and junior Jon Slater respectively taking 3rd, 4th, and 5th place honors. Debaters in the novice division had a strong showing as well, with freshmen Miriam Kelberg and Brenna Smith finishing 2nd and 4th.
AVHS then hosted the Minneapple Debate Tournament on November 6-7, which featured top competition from over 65 different schools, all hailing from 16 different states. Although varsity debaters do not compete at this tournament due to the rules of the Tournament of Champions (TOC) at which the Minneapple is a qualifier, Apple Valley’s JV and novice debaters still had outstanding performances. In JV LD, sophomore Luke Stuttgen reached the quarterfinal round, placing in the top eight of approximately 60 competitors. In novice, three freshmen debaters made it to the octafinal round; Georgia Schmitt was an octafinalist (top sixteen), Nader Helmy was a quarterfinalist (top eight), and Miriam Kelberg was a semifinalist (top four), all placing in a field of over 70 competitors. Congratulations to these four individuals for winning Apples, and congratulations to the entire Apple Valley speech and debate program for hosting a great tournament!