Bethany Christian High School hosted side-by-side speech and debate tournaments on Saturday.
The Northeast Indiana District debate tournament took place and junior Elena Unzicker took a national-qualifying second place in Lincoln Douglas debate. Juniors Eviella Sefu and Margo Finnigan placed fourth in public forum debate, making them second alternates to the national tournament. Junior Evan Gutierrez placed sixth in Lincoln Douglas debate.
At the Bethany Christian Winter Speech tournament, also held at Bethany on Saturday, many ribbons found their way into team members' hands. In prose, senior Sofia Johar took second and sophomore Preston Miller sixth. In poetry, junior Luna Calderon, freshman Ellie Hirschler, and sophomore Neer Goswami nabbed we second, fourth, and sixth, respectively. In international extemp, sophomore Ethan Claassen was third and freshman Ren Richardson fourth. Junior Jenny Rios took fourth in original oratory.
For their efforts on the day, Claassen earned his third National Forensic League (NFL) degree, Excellence. Richardson and Miller each earned their first NFL degree, Merit.
Bethany Debaters compete at the ISSDA State Debate Tournament at Avon High School this coming weekend.