The debate team swept the Regional Meet for Congressional Debate on November 14 at New Harmony Church. The students advance directly to state, which will occur January 8 and 9.

“I’m just proud that, amongst all the other things that all these students are doing this year, they were able to buckle down and get it done,” UIL Coordinator Rory McKenzie said. “This is just the first step, but now we’ve got to focus on state.”

Seniors Evan Bewersdorf, Ronak Desai, and Anthony Wyatt placed 1st, 2nd and 3rd, and junior Ashlynn Elgass placed 4th as the first alternate to state. Bewersdorf was last year’s 2017 State Champion, Wyatt was the 2017 Bronze Medalist, and Desai was a 2017 State Finalist.

“I’m extremely excited about advancing to state because it is such a fun opportunity,” Wyatt said. “The competition is always more challenging and it’s motivational to see how well you can do at such a prestigious level.”

This meet featured all of the 5A schools in the ESC 7 Region. The three students will defend the 2016-17 UIL Academic State Champion title when they compete in January.

“My favorite part of competing was definitely [working] with my team members [during] the round,” Bewersdorf said. “I’m incredibly honored and proud to go to the UIL State competition with Anthony and Ronak again.”