The upper school speech and debate team capped off the month of February by earning its highest placement ever at the Neosho, Mo. tournament, taking second place in overall sweepstakes. The team is gearing up for its first weekend of district competitions, Friday and Saturday, March 2-3, in Lincoln Douglas, Public Forum and Policy Debate. The top three finishers in Lincoln Douglas and Policy Debate, and the top four finishers in Public Forum Debate, will qualify for the National Championships over the summer in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Here are results from the Neosho tournament:

Second Place Overall Sweepstakes

Tournament Champion

• Audrey O'Shaughnessy - Informative Speaking

Tournament Runner-Up

• Mulan Jiang and Emily Dickey - Policy Debate

Finalists

• Original Oratory- Charlie Doering-Powell (3rd place)
• Public Forum Debate - Ana Stanovcic and Zara Johnson (3rd place)
• U. S. Extemporaneous Speaking - Pallavi Jonnalagadda (4th place), Zosia Czerwinski (5th place)
• International Extemporaneous Speaking - Emily Dickey (5th place)
• Informative Speaking - Thomson Corvin (5th place)

Semi-finalists

• Informative Speaking - Zara Johnson, Zoe Ganter
• International Extemporaneous Speaking - Shirom Makkad