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Two of Harrison’s debaters, senior Amy Geller and junior Kathryn Kenny, received their first bid -- or half of the qualifications -- toward the national Tournament of Champions, the most prestigious debate event in the country.
Greenhill featured 104 Varsity Lincoln-Douglas debaters from around the country. The tournament only allows a maximum of three entries per school and all competitors were top-level national circuit talent. Senior Amy Geller reached the top 16, receiving her first bid to the tournament.
“She defeated several of the most accomplished debaters in the country and received perfect speaker points in her final preliminary round,” said Harrison High Debate Team adviser Chetan Hertzig. “Amy’s achievement is the first of many to come this year.”
Also competing at Greenhill were Harrison High School juniors Sarah Ryan, who had an excellent 4-2 record in preliminary rounds and narrowly missed reaching elimination rounds based on speaker points, and junior Elyssa Alfieri, who had a highly respectable 3-3 record against stiff competition.
Junior Kathryn Kenny reached the quarterfinal (top eight) at the Yale University tournament and secured her first bid to the tournament.
Among the 164 varsity debaters, junior Ella Eisinger reached the top 16 after winning her triple and double rounds. In the JV division that contained 100 debaters from across the country, sophomore Sammi O’Reilly reached the semifinal (top four) and was named the JV tournament’s top speaker.
Sophomores Madeline Rawson and Adam Eljamal, along with Amr El-Azizi, reached the top 32round and Adam was named the tournament’s 4th speaker. Junior Evan Burger and sophomores Matt Zinman, Raffi Piliero, and Jack Wilson also had respectable showings in this difficult field.
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