UIL District 9-5A Champions: 11 Years in Row

Dropping only one ballot throughout the whole tournament, Lucero Pina and Colton Donica won the UIL District tournament (DP).  DP defeated an upstart UDL team from W. T. White in the semi's.  They then trounced Bernker in the finals on a 3-0 decision.  DP advances to UIL State at the University of Texas, March 11th - 14th.

THANKS to Ms. Rojas and Ms. Taylor for helping.  A special thanks to Mr. Perez and Skills USA for the awesome breakfast tacos and other food.  Finally, thanks to Townview's security and custodial staff for helping us make this a successful UIL tournament.  

UIL State Schedule

Williams & Wingham Climb to the Top at Flower Mound

After getting lost in a first round loss, Brittany Williams and Zavier Wingham cleared through their remaining rounds to capture the VCX title at the Flower Mound debate tournament.

Also breaking at the tournament were Efrain Vera and David Webb.  The "super-novice" team earned their first two points towards TFA State.  While a long shot, they still have a serious chance of qualifying.

This marked the second local TFA tournament in the three weeks a Law Magnet team wins.  It's also the third VCX championship for the squad.

Forget the NFL Let's Talk TOC - Camacho-Stephens Qualify for TOC

Eddie Camacho and Charlie Stephens etched themselves a place in Law Magnet history by becoming the first debaters to ever qualify to the TOC.  They did it by winning 3 out rounds and finishing 3rd at the Golden Desert Tournament hosted by UNLV.

The picture on the left is similar to the "trophy" they received for their Final Four finish.    We're still thinking whether to hang it in the debate room or the courtroom.  We might even hang it in Mr. Palagonia's offiee.

Great job CS.  I am proud of you and so is the staff of the Law Magnet.

Barefoot Debaters Lasso Another TFA Qualifier and Win at Coppell Cowboy's Classic

The Judge Barefoot Sanders Law Magnet debate team qualified another debater to TFA State and won the Coppell Cowboy's Classic VCX division.

Kelsey Annu-Essuman earned the #1 seed in VLD by going undefeated in the prelims. She ended the weekend by qualifying to TFA State and winning the first place best speaker award.  She becomes the first sophomore to qualify to TFA State in LD debate.

Eddie Camacho and Charlie Stephens dominated the VCX pool that included teams from Greenhill, St. Mark's, Jesuit and Colleyville.  With their second consecutive tournament win, CS is on the verge of being triple qualified for TFA state.  They have now amassed 28 TFA points.  The  two will now get ready to vie for their second TOC bid at the Golden Desert Invitational in two weeks.

COPPELL GOOGLE MAP

COPPELL CLASSIC SCHEDULE

The Debate World Loses One of It's Best

Dr. Scott "Duck" Deatherage died this Christmas morning.  Those of you familiar with college debate or have watched Resolved may remember him.  He was widely known as the best college debate coach in the country, winning 7 NDT titles while coaching at Northwestern.  He had recently taken over as the Executive Director of the National Urban Debate League.  To say he will be missed is an understatement.

Chicago Tribune Article

Camacho-Stephens Break to Out Rounds at UT Longhorn Classic

Eddie Camacho and Charlie Stephens (CS) came very close to earning their second TOC bid at the University of Texas Longhorn Classic. The two won their first five rounds before losing their only preliminary round to the Kincaid School..  CS then advanced to the Double Octo Finals and eliminated Jenks High School from the competition. 

CS lost to St. Mark's-MB in Octos.  CS finished in the top 10 and their only losses came against the first place team (Kincaid) and second place team (St. Mark's).  Eddie and Charlie continue to build a convincing portfolio for an invitation to the Barkley Forum, NDCA Nationals and an at-large TOC bid (if necessary).  They have now competed in 5 TOC tournaments.  They have a winning record in all 5, have advanced to elimination rounds in 4 of the 5 and have earned one bid to the TOC.

Camacho and Stephens will next compete on the TOC circuit at the Golden Desert Classic in January.

Law Magnet Draws and Quarters South Garland Competition

The Judge Barefoot Sanders Debate Team continues to excel on the local TFA circuit.  Competing at the South Garland Southern Classic, the team advanced one VCX team and one VLD to Quarter-Finals.

Colton Donica and Lucy Pina went undefeated in the prelim's and earned the #2 seed.  They advanced to Quarter-Finals where they fell to Colleville.  According to the unofficial results posted on the TFA website, the team earned their first 2 points towards TFA state.

Kelsey Annu-Essuman continued her incredible run of breaking at local TFA tournaments.  She defeated her opponent in Octo-Finals and advanced to Quarters where she faced Megha Motgi from Hockaday.  The panel was split, with the 2-1 decision narrowly going to Hockaday.  Nevertheless, Kelsey earned an additional two points toward TFA state.  She now has 9 points, just one shy of qualifying.