Los Alamos High School Hilltalkers Earn New Mexico Speech & Debate School Of Excellence Award For Sixth Year In A Row

LAHS NEWS

For the sixth year in a row, the Los Alamos High School Hilltalkers earned the New Mexico Speech and  Debate School of Excellence Award for outstanding performance in Speech and Debate events at the  2021 New Mexico State Speech and Debate Championships.  “I am so proud of our team,” said Coach Margo Batha. “They have done a phenomenal job the entire season competing in a virtual format. From the comfort of our homes, we’ve traveled to competitions at  Glenbrooks North and South High Schools in Illinois, Harvard, Arizona State University, and the  University of Texas, Austin to compete with the top Speech and Debate students in the nation. We’ve also  competed at every competition offered in New Mexico.” 

Students who competed in the state competition include: 

Yunseo Kim, 1st place in Dramatic Interpretation 

Emily Scott, 2nd place in Dramatic Interpretation 

Taylor Kanzleiter and Philippa Fung, 6th place in Duo Interpretation 

Olivia Koo, 1st place in Informative Speaking 

Philippa Fung, 2nd place in Informative Speaking 

Elizabeth Frost, 4th place in Informative Speaking 

Dana Roelofs, 4th place in International Extemporaneous Speaking 

Yunseo Kim, 1st place in Program of Oral Interpretation 

Elizabeth Adams, 2nd place in Program of Oral Interpretation 

Violet Henderson, Quarterfinalist, Varsity Lincoln Douglas Debate 

Maximus Posada, 3rd place, Varsity Lincoln Douglas Debate 

Olivia Koo and Dana Roelofs, 2nd place, Varsity Policy Debate 

Congratulations are also due to Hana Raby, Simon Lee, Ravijit Khalsa, Luke Favorite, Finley Inglis, Rylee  Mechum, Keturah Sherrill, Shena Han, and Brian Han for their strong performances at State. 

In addition, the Los Alamos Middle School Hawktalkers, coached by Sherri Bublitz, brought home a  Debate School of Honor Award. “We haven’t done that in years,” said Bublitz. Middle school students  competed against high school students in the competition. 

Eighth grader Uxue Sansinena was named State Champion in Novice Lincoln-Douglas Debate. Jonathan Chen and David Reichhardt were in the top eight in the state, making it to the quarterfinals in Novice  Lincoln-Douglas Debate. This year’s National tournaments will be held virtually in June. The High School Nationals Opening Ceremony will be held on June 13, while the Middle School Showcase finalists will be announced on the  same day.