Press release
The Cross Roads Speech and Debate team won 1st Place Team Sweepstakes Honors at the Leon High School Speech and Debate tournament on Saturday, Oct. 25. The team won competing against 10 schools and 150 students representing 3A and 4A UIL classification schools.
The team finished 2nd, 3rd, and 6th in Cross-Examination Policy Debate. Freshman Julia Harris won top speaker honors in the event. The team finished 4th and 6th in Lincoln-Douglass Debate. They finished 1st, 3rd, and 4th in Extemporaneous speaking. The team finished 2nd in Prose Interpretation. Junior High student Kaden Mattingly represented the team in Congressional Debate, and came out with the win. He earned top speaker honors in the event.
The team was represented at the tournament by juniors Cody Baker, Luke Carnes, LaTrae Chaney, Rachael Cooper, Katie Harris, Nathan Hearne and Kayle Maxwell. Also competing were sophomore Justin Yachinich, Freshman Julia Harris, Freshman Taylor Long and Junior High student Kaden Mattingly.
“I am so proud of these students,” said Debate Coach Chris Dickson. “The skills they learn at speech and debate competitions will last them a lifetime. Since the school year began, 25 students have joined the Cross Roads Bobcat Speech and Debate team. Most of the students are involved in other extra-curricular activities and still perform at a high level. These students are amazing to watch! We’re continuing to accept new students every week and give them unbelievable opportunities to earn academic scholarships for their future.”
The speech and debate team will join the full UIL Academic team at tournaments in Whitehouse on November 8th and Athens on November 15th. Four members of the debate team will compete to earn a berth to UIL State Competition in Congressional Debate on Monday, November 10, when they compete in the UIL Region 7 Congressional Debate competition.
