ATTENTION: Education and / or News Editors

Jan. 11, 2010
Contact: Chris Franson or Ellen Giloy-Rajkowski / MSHSL

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

State Debate Tournament
Henry Sibley’s Bernick returns to defend Policy title

The State Debate Tournament, which is the Minnesota State High School League’s longest-running event, marks its 109th anniversary this year. The tournament will be held at Willey and Blegen Halls on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis this Friday and Saturday, Jan. 15 and 16.

Daniel Bernick of Henry Sibley, Mendota Heights, is the only competitor defending a 2009 crown. He took top honors in Policy with Robert Ciborowski last year, and he’ll compete with Anna Koelsch this year.

Erik Legried of The Blake School of Minneapolis is the highest returning qualifier in the Lincoln-Douglas event. Legried has fallen in the semifinals for the past two years.

While students in some rooms are debating whether the federal government should increase social services for people living in poverty in the United States, students in other rooms will be debating whether economic sanctions ought to be used to achieve foreign policy objectives. Sixty-four students from 25 high schools will plot affirmative and negative strategies to enable them to effectively debate these current issues during the 2010 State Debate Tournament.

The Spotlight on the Arts Award of Excellence will also be presented at the 2010 tournament. Wells Fargo, the League’s premier sponsor, created the recognition program for fine arts participants in cooperation with the League.

Policy Debate
This year’s policy debate issue is “Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States.”

Twenty teams of two from 12 schools will compete. There are 22 individuals involved this year who competed last year.
Daniel Bernick of Henry Sibley of Mendota Heights returns in search of his second gold medal. He won with Robert Ciborowski last year, and will compete with Anna Koelsch this year.

Five teams return intact from last year. Laura Johnson and Steve Quam of St. Paul Central earned runner-up honors, while Tom Madsen and David Kang of The Blake School of Minneapolis lost in the quarterfinals. Kyra Johnson and Annie Martin of Eagan, Katherine Bleth and Anthony Nixon of Rosemount, and Hannah Johnson and Hannah Nesser of St. Paul Central all lost in the preliminary rounds.

Two other competitors who advanced to the final rounds in 2009 return with new partners this year. Wayzata’s Krishnan Ramanujan lost in the semifinals and will team up with Dru Svoboda, who was an alternate last year. Eden Prairie’s Tanay Mehta lost in the quarterfinals and will compete with Brett Beutell this year. Beutell lost in last year’s preliminary rounds.

Four additional competitors who lost in the preliminary rounds last year return with new partners: Tamar Kaplan of St. Paul Highland Park will compete with Andrew Hall and Michael McGrath of The Blake School will pair up with Kentucky Morrow. Nick Khatri of Edina will team up with Trevor Aufderheide, who was an alternate in 2009, and John Neitge of Mankato West will compete with Brianna Cragun. Cragun also served as an alternate last year.

In addition to Svoboda and Aufderheide, three other qualifiers who were alternates in 2009 will compete for their respective teams this year. Breanna Cragun of Mankato West will pair up with John Neitge, Izak Gallini-Matyas of Minneapolis South will team up with Oskar Tauring-Traxler, and Ning Yang of Eden Prairie will compete with Clayton Carlson.

Eagan, Rosemount, Henry Sibley, St. Paul Central, The Blake School, Minneapolis South, Edina, and Eden Prairie each have qualified two teams. The qualifying teams are the first- through fifth-place finishers from the four section tournaments.

Lincoln-Douglas Debate
This year’s Lincoln-Douglas debate topic is “Resolved: Economic sanctions ought not be used to achieve foreign policy objectives.”
Twenty-four students from 15 schools are qualified. The qualifiers are the first- through sixth-place finishers from the four section tournaments. Nine schools qualified two individuals apiece: Eagan, Apple Valley, Eastview of Apple Valley, Robbinsdale Cooper, St. Thomas Academy of Mendota Heights, Visitation of Mendota Heights, The Blake School of Minneapolis, Lakeville North, and Hopkins.

Erik Legried of The Blake School is the highest returning qualifier. He has made it to the semifinals the past two years.

In addition to Legried, five other competitors who lost in the qualifying rounds of the 2009 tournament also return: Will Cox of Eagan, Chyenne Thibodo of Robbinsdale Cooper, Brian Plunkett of St. Thomas Academy, Phelan O’Neill of The Blake School, and Robyn Sellman of Coon Rapids.

As it occurred when Lincoln and Douglas debated more than a century ago, this event pits individual against individual.

Schedule
Preliminary rounds of both forms of debate will be conducted throughout the day Friday, with Policy debaters starting at 11:30 a.m. and Lincoln-Douglas debaters starting at 12:30 p.m. On Saturday morning, there are two more preliminary rounds of Lincoln-Douglas debate beginning at 8 o’clock, and a fifth preliminary round of Policy debate starting at 8:15. Quarterfinals for Policy debate are set for 10:30 a.m., followed by Lincoln-Douglas debate at 10:45 a.m. Semifinals for both forms of debate will begin at 1:00 p.m. The Lincoln-Douglas debate final will begin at 2:15 p.m. and the Policy debate final will begin at 3:30 p.m. Awards for Lincoln-Douglas debate will commence at 3:00 p.m., and awards for Policy debate will begin at 5:00 p.m.

The Spotlight on the Arts Award of Excellence will be presented to four competitors in Lincoln-Douglas Debate and eight competitors in Policy Debate, recognizing their outstanding fine arts performances by reaching the tournament’s semifinals.

The Spotlight on the Arts campaign was launched to increase awareness and visibility of the League’s fine arts disciplines. The award will also be presented to the finest participants in the one act play festival, music contests, visual arts, and speech competitions.

Admission to the debate tournament is free and open to the public. — 30 —

Photographers are encouraged to record the event...but MUST shoot unobtrusively and only with available light. See Chris Franson or Barb Seng at the site for guidance. Tournament results will be posted on the League’s Web site. The League’s Web site address is www.MSHSL.org.