JACKSON, Wyo. — The Jackson Hole High School Speech and Debate Team brought home 1st place at its first official tournament of the season held at Rock Springs High School, November 15-16. In addition to the 1st place team sweepstakes trophy, the team landed 18 individual awards on its way to earning 79 points. Riverton scored 44 to take 2nd place.
Senior Maleah Tuttle led the way in her individual events. She finished 1st in varsity Extemporaneous Speaking, fourth in varsity Impromptu Speaking and third in varsity Lincoln Douglas Debate. Her success in the three events earned her a 4th place finish in the “Triple Threat” competition that is unique to the Rock Springs tournament.
Freshman Nicole Checker paired with sophomore Nayeli Hernandez-Lopez in novice Public Forum Debate to finish in 2nd place. They spent the weekend debating whether or not the benefits of the United States federal government’s use of offensive cyber operations outweigh the harms. Juniors Josh Hansen and Preston Harmon teamed up to finish in 3rd place in the varsity category of the event.
Checker and Hernandez-Lopez again teamed up in novice Duo Interpretation to finish in 5th. Hansen went on to place 3rd in varsity Congressional Debate. Sophomore William Aepli finished 2nd. In the novice division, freshman Maya Worcester reached the final round of the event.
Aepli also competed in varsity Lincoln Douglas Debate, arguing both sides of whether or not the United States ought to eliminate subsidies for fossil fuels. He finished in 2nd place after going undefeated in preliminary rounds.
Junior River Gayton found incredible success in varsity Informative Speaking, earning a 1st place trophy with her speech on colors. Junior Abi Daugherty placed 6th in novice Humorous Interpretation. Sophomore Tina Tonkin placed 4th in novice Original Oratory.
It was Varsity Extemporaneous Speaking where the JHHS team really shined. Following closely on the heels of Tuttle’s 1st place finish, seniors and team captains, Warren Levy and Darcy Mueller finished in 6th place and 4th place respectively. Harmon made it to semi-finals but missed the cutoff for finals by one placing. In the novice category of the event, freshman Alexis Hernandez tied for 3rd place.
Hernandez joined freshman Blanca Sartillo in Novice Program Oral Interpretation where they finished in 5th and 6th place respectively. Sartillo’s program explores the Latinx experience in America while Hernandez looks at immigration issues we face in the country.
Coaches Londe and Peggy Gagnon were excited to have so many up and coming competitors on the JHHS Speech and Debate Team.
“Varsity and Novice worked together in seamless fashion to bring home numerous top awards and a very prestigious team sweepstakes trophy. It’s going to be an amazing year,” coaches said.
Jackson competes again in December at the Thermopolis Bobcat Invitational.
