HomeBy Emilia Cubelos
After months of hard work and effort, the GCHS debate team went to state March 15. The Red Devils took fourth place overall, only two points away from third place. Every single person who competed on behalf of Grand contributed to their close finish.
GCHS head coach Boyd Bryan called it one of the closest high school debate state tournaments in recent memory. Maeser Prep won the state title for the fourth consecutive year.
Several GCHS debate team members turned in strong performances, Maren Larsen, a senior, took first place in Impromptu Speaking. Mary Rice, a senior, placed second in Extemporaneous Speaking and third in the Lincoln-Douglas event. These wins made their last high school debate tournament a memorable one. In addition, Emilia Cubelos, a freshman, placed third in Spontaneous Argumentation.
The GCHS team finished the tournament just two points behind third-place winner, America Leadership Academy, and 12 points behind second-place Richfield.
Also placing among the top six in their categories were the Public Forum team of Maren Larsen and Nat Smith and Spontaneous Argumentation competitor Kris Kemp, who took sixth. Top 10 finishers were Public Forum team members Anna Scherer and Deanna Irvin, Anna Scherer in Impromptu, Stacey Andrus in Lincoln-Douglas, Sarah Quigley and Dexter Sheets in Oratory, and Robin Willscheidt and Kris Kemp in Extemporaneous Speaking. Ember Green and Deanna Irvin in Congress and Emma Sweeney in Impromptu also scored points for Grand.
Grand's coaches – Mr. Bryan, Sarah Sidwell, and Ryan Hand – praised the team members for their efforts. Bryan thanked the school administration, parents, community members and his co-coaches for the help and dedication they have shown this season. The Red Devils placed third in their region and had 17 students qualify for state. Mr. Bryan announced that he is retiring as the debate coach.
Whether they ended up taking home a medal or not, everyone on the team deserves recognition. This is was one of the closest finishes for us in quite some time. Everyone gave it their all, from practices multiple times a week to preparing at home, to the actual tournaments. A lot of dedication and encouragement was shown all around. Everyone did wonderfully and should be proud of themselves for doing so. The coaches who took their time to help everyone improve and to judge events deserve a big thank you as well. Let's keep up the hard work for next year!