Isidore Newman 2022 Results
The team returned to its very first regular season in-person national circuit tournament by attending the 44th Newman Invitational Tournament in New Orleans, Louisiana from 12/9–12/11! To say that we accomplished a TON would be underselling just how incredible this experience was. We were awed and amazed at how the team’s camaraderie, support, and preparation turned into such a successful weekend — both in the ways we attained competitive success, as well as in how the team bonded and supported one another throughout their efforts.
For example, some of the specific exciting developments from the weekend included:
6 out of the 7 students broke past the preliminary rounds into elimination rounds (despite it being the first in-person national circuit tournament for FOUR of them!)
Our policy debaters (Leo and Darin) made it to the Semi Finals (Top 4) of the tournament, also known as the “bid round”
We have not had a policy debate team in the bid round of a tournament in at least two decades (if not more!)
Our JV Lincoln Douglas debater (Meryem) made it to the Octa Finals (Top 16) of the tournament, despite competing in Varsity and at her first national circuit tournament (they didn’t have a JV division).
This is quite frankly unheard of; it is an AMAZING feat for a sophomore just entering national circuit competition!
Ell, one of our POI competitors, advanced to finals and earned 4th place (just one place shy of earning a bid!).
This was Ell’s first national circuit competition, and their THIRD tournament ever!
BOTH of our informative speakers (Becca and Ben) earned “bids” to the UKTOC and earned 1st and 2nd place respectively, with Becca being crowned the Tournament Champion of Informative Speaking! (She earned an adorable stuffed alligator, Newman’s mascot, which she has subsequently named “Gavin” the Gator).
Although we have historically done quite well in several speech events nationally, we have not attained this level of success in Informative Speaking in quite some time!
Congratulations to the following for their specific achievements:
Speech
1st place CHAMPION in Informative Speaking — Becca Faber (received bid to the ToC!)
2nd place in Informative Speaking — Ben Raihane (first nat circ tournament; received bid to the ToC!)
4th place Finalist in Program Oral Interp — Ell Bueno (first nat circ tournament!)
Debate
3rd place Semi-Finalists in Varsity Policy Debate — Leo Crowley & Darin Eberhardt (2nd seed in prelims, made it to the bid round!)
2nd place Speaker Award in Varsity Policy Debate — Leo Crowley
Top 16 Octa-Finalist in Varsity Lincoln Douglas Debate — Meryem Anderoglu (first time in varsity and first nat circ!)
As a whole, we earned top awards in EVERY SINGLE event we entered in (4 for 4!), with 6 out of our 7 competitors advancing to elimination final rounds! This is a remarkable achievement, especially for such a younger group of students still in the beginnings of their competitive careers. I cannot wait to see what the future holds for them! Congratulations to all for their patience and camaraderie this weekend, even when that entailed Assistant Coach Jason Barton reading German philosophy (Hegel, for those who are curious) at the Sunport at 4:00AM, or Assistant Coach Norah Doss generating spontaneous game-after-game to keep our speech competitors occupied as they awaited our debaters each day. I truly could not be prouder of this team.
Next up, several students will travel to Tempe, Arizona to compete at the Arizona State University tournament in January! Stay tuned.