NDCA Results

The NDCA released the final results of the NDCA Championships and Kelsey Annu-Essuman finished as the 32nd Seed. The tournament only broke to partial doubles, but had it broken to doubles, Kelsey would have qualified to the elimination rounds.

Next year's NDCA Championships will be hosted by UNLV in sunny Las Vegas!

3 Top 20 Finishes @ TFA State

The JBS Law Magnet debate team had its most successful showing at TFA State with three Top 20 performances.  Ivan Garcia and Rolando Velasquz finished in 17th place in CX Debate.  Ivan Garcia (who has struggled with his speaker points all year) finished as the 19th Best Speaker in CX.  Kelsey was the 20th Best Speaker  in LD.  Since TFA State is so large, they recognize the top 20 Speakers.

In a year, in which JBS was supposed to rebuilding, it got is first CX team to break at TFA state.  Scott Deatherage used to say that "when won of us wins, we all win," that debate is more of a team effort than just the people debating in the room.  That was obvious this weekend as Charlie Stephens and Zavier Wingham came up to help be part of the research/strategy team, instead of enjoying their first weekend of Spring Break. Below is  a great picture of one of our "war room" sessions before leaving for the tournament.

Now we get ready for UIL Spring Meet and then the NDCA Championships in Scranton, PA.

Garcia-Velasquez Make NDCA Champs

We received word late today that Ivan Garcia and Rolando Velasquez have qualified for the National Debate Coaches' Association Championships.

It's Official: Kelsey Annu-Essuman Is Going to Scranton

After a day of being iced out of two tournaments, we needed some good news. We received confirmation from the National Debate Coaches Association that Kelsey Annu-Essuman has qualified for the Championships. The tournament will take place in mid April in Scranton, PA.

Congrats to Kelsey and the entire squad, for when one of us wins, we all win. This is the third year in a row we qualify someone to the NDCA Champs. This is Kelsey's second time qualifying.

VLD Squad Charges Flower Mound

After a two week period in which the LD squad had failed to have a single debater break into the out rounds, the VLD squad charged Flower Mound with a vengeance. Three VLD debaters broke and earned TFA points, matching a record recently set at Creekview.

Kelsey Annu-Essuman may have solidified her NDCA invitation this weekend by finishing 3rd in VLD. She leads the team with 25 TFA points.

Quetzabel Benavides keeps scratching out points towards TFA qualification. She now has a total of five points with two tournaments remaining.

Katia Ramirez added another TFA point to her stellar first year of debating. If she earns two more points, it will be the most ever by a first year LD debater. She needs a total of five to match the all time freshman mark set by Eddie Camacho and Charlie Stephens in their first year.

Jasper Marks Great Day for Velasquez Brothers

The Velasquez brothers - Rodolfo and Rolando - both leaped into contention at the Jasper Debate tournament. Rodolfo and his partner David Webb finished in 5th Place and earned their first two TFA points. Rolando and Ivan Garcia continue to maintain momentum towards an NDCA invitation by finishing 3rd.

PESH: 2 Top 10 Finishes in VCX

The JBS Law Magnet Debate Team had two VCX teams finish in the top ten at the Plano East Debate Tournament.  

Colton Donica and Lucero Pina returned to the debate scene after a long hiatus to earn two more points towards TFA state. They now have 6 of the 10 required to qualify.

Continuing their hot streak, Ivan Garcia and Rolando Velasquez also finished in the out rounds with two additional TFA points. They have already qualified for TFA State and are now building a portfolio of top finishes to earn an invitation to the National Debate Coaches' Association Championships in April.

Garcia-Velasquez Qualify to TFA State

Ivan Garcia and Rolando Velasquez came within one round of giving the JBS Law Magnet back-to-back titles at Coppell. Garcia-Velasquez did finish in 3rd Place, earning four TFA points and have now qualified to TFA State. The team fought through eliminations rounds to an undefeated record of 4-0. They defeated Jesuit in the power matched round four and eliminated Benton in Quarters. The team dropped to St. Marks in Semis.

Kelsey Annu-Essuman continues to build a strong portfolio to qualify for the NDCA Championships. She finished 3rd in VLD and has now earned 19 TFA points, nearly double the points required to qualify for state.

The novices also went home with some hardware.  Ruben Garcia and Andre Lozano broke to Quarters in NCX and finished in 5th Place.  This marks the third time this year they have won trophies. Ana Giron broke in NLD for the first time. She defeated a Colleyville debater in Octos to advance to Quarters.  She finished in 5th.