After several long rounds of continuous speeches, cases were made and six Lindale High School students swept the top three district spots in Cross-Examination Debate (CX).
“We set that goal at the beginning of the year, and it’s the first one to cross off the list for the year,” said Speech and Debate Coach Rory McKenzie. “But we aren’t done yet. Our team feels like we’re in a great position to do amazing things in Austin, and the students are hungry for more.”
The team of Cody Gustafson and Barron Wolter took home the gold medal, Alec Ramsey and Jonas Thrasher-Evers won silver and Kylen Kuslak and Colton Parker captured the bronze. The wins qualify Gustafson and Wolter along with Ramsey and Thrasher-Evers to debate at the state University Interscholastic League (UIL) competition. Kuslak and Parker are alternates to the meet. This year marks the twenty-first consecutive year Lindale will send students to the state competition in CX debate.
“To take four freshmen to the district competition and come out on top is an amazing feeling,” McKenzie said.
Wolter also took home the top speaker award. The honor is given to the student who accumulates the most speaker points during the day of competition. Points are given for a speaker’s delivery during the debate.
“The continued success of our speech and debate team is a reflection of great leadership and a commitment to excellence,” said LHS Principal Casey Neal. “Our coaches and students are relentless when it comes to preparation for these tournaments. I am proud to see their hard work and dedication pay off once again.”
The winning teams competed on February 4th against students from several other schools in their district. The students debated the following resolution: “The United States federal government should substantially increase its economic engagement toward Cuba, Mexico, or Venezuela.” They will debate the same topic at the state competition on March 14–15 in Austin.
