Bethel Park, Pennsylvania - Bethel Park High School in Western Pennsylvania will host its 22nd Annual Bethel Park Invitational. The tournament, which features two days of competition in most events, will take place on February 8th and 9th.

Lincoln Douglas, Policy, and Public Forum debate will include five preliminary rounds before a quarterfinal, semifinal, and final round.

The Invitation

Bethel Park’s Crowne Plaza will serve as the tournament’s official hotel.

Lexington, Massachusetts - On January 18th and 19th, a field of over 120 varsity Lincoln Douglas debaters competed for 8 TOC bids.

Among the Pennsylvanians in attendance, the following cleared to elimination rounds:
Doubles:
Collegiate MW def. Pocono Mountain ZP (Zak Pyzik)
Scarsdale NL def. Unionville JG (Jay Garlapati)
Octofinals:
Hunter College AB def. Perkiomen Valley LK (Lisa Kapp)
Quarters:
Sacred Heart SZ def. Upper St. Clair JG (JP Gooderham)
Scarsdale ET def. Perkiomen Valley KG (Karlyn Gorski)

TOP SPEAKERS

1. Shadman Zaman — Sacred Heart High School (MA)
2. Jane Kessner — Walt Whitman High School (MD)
3. Nikita Lalwani — Scarsdale High School (NY)
4. Shireen Rudina — Ridge High School (NJ)
5. Alan Tong — Ridge High School (NJ)
6. Stephanie Caravias — Ridge High School (NJ)
7. Marco Marrazza — Walt Whitman High School (MD)
8. Matt Dunay — The Bronx High School of Science (NY)
9. Alex Bores — Hunter College High School (NY)
10. Daniel Daks — Scarsdale High School (NY)
11. Marc Wallach — Collegiate School (NY)
12. Samit Dharia — Niskayuna High School (NY)
13. Vineet Singal — The Bronx High School of Science (NY)
14. Jesse Klinger — Great Neck South High School (NY)
15. Isaac Bloch — Berkeley Carroll School (NY)
16. Seth Teleky — The Bronx High School of Science (NY)
17. Perry Green — Walt Whitman High School (MD)
18. Karlyn Gorski — Perkiomen Valley High School (PA)
19. Akshay Agashe — Newtown High School (CT)
20. Alex Williams — Niskayuna High School (NY)

Baldwin, Pennsylvania - Western Pennsylvania kicked off the 2008 debate season at Harrison Middle School during the 2008 Baldwin Invitational. The tournament, run by the Baldwin High School Forensic team, held competition in all debate events as well as many IEs.

In Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Haley Guiler from North Allegheny High School won with a 4-0 prelim record. Hadley is coached by Sharon Volpe.

Results:
1. Hadley Guiler - North Allegheny High School
2. Liann Sun - Fox Chapel Area High School

Philadelphia, PA - 7 debaters from 4 states competed on Friday at the University of Pennsylvania’s First Annual Round Robin. The participants were:

1. Stephanie Caravias — Ridge High School (NJ)
2. JP Gooderham — Upper St. Clair High School (PA)
3. Ryan Zehner — St. Joseph’s Preparatory School (PA)
Gurdane Bhutani — Lake Highland Preparatory School (FL)
Lisa Kapp — Perkiomen Valley High School (PA)
Alex Koren — Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School (PA)
Vineet Singal — The Bronx High School of Science (NY)

Speakers:
1. Stephanie Caravias - Ridge High School
2. JP Gooderham - Upper St. Clair High School
3. Lisa Kapp - Perkiomen Valley

Pennsylvania’s JP Gooderham of Upper St. Clair High School was defeated by Stephanie Caravias of Ridge High School on a 4-3 decision. JP is coached by Allison Huberlie, Stephanie is coached by David Yastremski and Charlie Furman.

New Haven, Connecticut - At Yale University, four Pennsylvania Lincoln-Douglas debaters were able to clear to competition on Sunday from a varsity field of over 160 debaters.

Clearing to Doubles:

1. (1) Berkeley Carroll IB (NY) Isaac Bloch def. (32) Upper St. Clair JG (PA) JP Gooderham
(Boyle, Lintz, Bendi*)
2. (3) Ridge AT (NJ) def. (30) Perkiomen Valley LK (PA) Lisa Kapp
3. (25) Niskayuna SSy (NY) Sohail Syed def. (8) Pocono Mt. West ZP (PA) Zak Pyzik
4. (17) Perkiomen Valley KG (PA) Karlyn Gorski def. (16) Ridge SR (NJ) Shireen Rudina

Octafinals:

1. (1) Berkeley Carroll IB (NY) Issac Bloch def. (17) Perkiomen Valley KG (PA) Karlyn Gorski
(Mumper, Gordon, Berryhill)

Also, congratualtion to Pocono Mt. West’s Zak Pyzik for placing seventh in speaker points from prelim rounds.

Congratulations to all Pennsylvania debaters who participated in the Yale Invitational.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Alexander McCobin has officially announced the 7 participants in the first ever installment of the University of Pennsylvania Round Robin, which will take place the Friday before the UPenn Liberty Bell Classic on October 5th.

The field will include:
Gurdane Bhutani — Lake Highland Preparatory School (FL)
Stephanie Caravias — Ridge High School (NJ)
J.P. Gooderham — Upper St. Clair High School (PA)
Lisa Kapp — Perkiomen Valley High School (PA)
Alex Koren — Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School (PA)
Vineet Singal — The Bronx High School of Science (NY)
Ryan Zehner — St. Joseph’s Preparatory School (PA)

Each debater will hit one of the six other members of the field and have one bye round. The top two participants will participate in a final, which will coincide with the registration for the LBC, so students can watch and learn.

Good luck and congratulations to all!

New Haven, Connecticut - With a week long break following Greenhill and Wake Forest, the national circuit will resume the weekend of the 28th at the Yale Invitational. While the Varsity Lincoln Douglas debate field has already filled up, Tabroom.com indicates that space is still available in the Junior Varsity division.

Pennsylvania teams currently listed:
*Coughlin
*Danville
*Holy Ghost Prep
*La Salle College
*Merion Mercy Academy
*Pennsbury
*Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School
*Perkiomen Valley
*Pocono Mt. West
*Shady Side Academy
*St. Joseph’s Prep
*Unionville
*Upper St. Clair

Who is your school sending to Yale for a quarters bid?

Winston-Salem, NC - Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School’s own Alex Koren defeated Montgomery Bell’s Corey Metzman to capture the 2007 Wake Forest National Earlybird Championship. Koren, an alumni of the National Symposium for Debate at the Philadelphia Debate Institute, won on a 2-1 decision late on Sunday. Koren received his first circuit tournament title and bid in his career.

Along with Koren’s strong performance, several other Pennsylvania natives cleared to outrounds in Winston-Salem.

Doubles:
*JP Gooderham (Upper St. Clair JG),was defeated by fellow Pennsylvanian Jay Garlapati (Unionville JG) on a 2-1 decison.

Octafinals:
*Ryan Zehner (St. Josephs RZ) was defeated by champion Alex Koren (Penn Leadership AK).
*Jay Garlpapati (Unionville JG) was defeated by East Chapel Hill MS.

Furthermore, congratulations to the Pennsylvania debaters who participated this past weekend.

Photo courtesy of Glyn Cozart (Unionville GC).

McDowell and Mercyhurst high schools will host a festival practice tournament on November 3rd.

The judge training meeting, formerly held at Upper St. Clair High School, will be hosted by Shadyside Academy this year.

If your team is interested in acquainting new and old judges with various forensics events, the meeting will take place October 20th.