Sophomore Lincoln-Douglas debaters Roshan Amurthur and Sofia Shah pose with their trophies at the Mid America Cup’s Sophomore Throw Down section. Sofia and Roshan finished in 1st and 2nd place, respectively, at one of the most prestigious invitational events in the country.

Over 70 members of Harker’s speech and debate team performed well at recent fall tournaments in September, including the Greenhill Fall Classic in Addison, Texas from Sept. 13-18, the Mid America Cup in West Des Moines, Iowa from Sept. 22-25 and the Stephen Stewart Memorial Invitational in Milpitas, California from Sept. 22-24. At these events, students aim to win top speaker awards and secure Tournament of Champions (TOC) bids to qualify for one of the most prestigious competitions in speech and debate.

At the Stephen Stewart Memorial Invitational, Shreyas Chakravarthy (11) secured a TOC bid in Domestic Extemporaneous, and Ariel Zhang (10) secured one in Original Oratory. Ansh Sheth (12) and Sofia Shah (10) won the top speaker awards at the Greenhill Fall Classic and Sophomore Throw-Down section at Mid America Cup, respectively. Roshan Amurthur (10) won a TOC bid at the Mid America Cup, and he and Sofia both got bids at the Greenhill Fall Classic.

Making it to the finals and winning awards at these tournaments is a recurring goal as Harker’s team strives to better its performance each year. Upper school speech and debate coaches Greg Achten, Jenny Achten, and Scott Odekirk guided Harker at these events. The close sense of camaraderie that exists between members of Harker’s team contributes to their continued success, noted Greg Achten.

“The thing that I think makes our team successful is that all of the students really work for one

another,” Greg Achten said. “All of our students really are pulling for each other. If one of our students is eliminated from the tournament, the first thing they do is ask what they can do to help their teammates who are still debating … so it’s a real team effort.” 

Robert Fields (11), who competed at the Stephen Stewart Memorial in Original Oratory and Extemporaneous categories, echoed Achten’s sentiment, as he appreciated the team dynamics and supportive community that immediately embraced him when he joined the team. Beyond just helping him develop his speaking skills, Robert’s new teammates quickly became close friends.

“When I first joined, I thought it would be sort of cliquey with a bunch of different groups,” Robert said. “But the upperclassmen and the underclassmen get along together … there’s a strong feeling of community already.” 

Ariel also participated in the Stephen Stewart Memorial in Original Oratory and Impromptu, but she expressed a different sentiment, noting instead the community that exists between the speakers on different teams. The inherent competition present in these tournaments didn;t lead to strained relationships; speakers actually formed close bonds and were very supportive of each other.

“You’re a part of such a close knit community, and in this community, people are vulnerable,” Ariel said. “Through this vulnerability, you have this invincible strength in all of these people.”