By MariaFernanda Gomez Special to the Intermountain Catholic Resolution: After receiving the high honor of an invitation to the exclusive Greenhill Round Robin debate tournament in Dallas, Texas, the Juan Diego Catholic High School debate duo of Richard Idriss and Katie Roberts is looking forward to an extremely successful year. The Greenhill School tournament, the first and most difficult national debate tournament of the year nationwide, took place this year Sept. 17-18. The top 110 policy debate teams in the country attended. While Juan Diego also had two other teams invited to the larger competition (made up of Ryan Keenan, Sean Williams, Alysa Edwards and Alex Millburn), Idriss and Roberts had the distinction of being the only team west of Dallas, Texas to be invited to the Round Robin pre-tournament competition – an invitation reserved for the top 16 teams in the country. The ratings are based on last year’s debate season performances. Idriss and Roberts, both seniors, are in their fourth year of debating at Juan Diego. Soaring Eagle Policy team coach Joshua Clark knows the talent Idriss and Roberts have developed over their years of debating. Clark said they performed exceptionally well in the invitational, where they defeated three of the top 16 teams, ultimately placing 11 out of 110 teams. "It shows great potential," Clark said. Roberts was also very proud of her and Idriss’ performance. "We did as well as we hoped we would, though I think this kind of exceeded our expectations," she said. "We weren’t necessarily expected to win any outrounds, so that was a great achievement." The two have earned a bid to the most exclusive and important debate tournament of the year – the Tournament of Champions. This is the first time a JD team has earned a bid at the Greenhill tournament and is the earliest that a bid has been obtained in JD history. Idriss says he and Roberts support one another, regardless of whether they win. At the tournament, after winning their bid, they bumped fists. "We cheer each other on," Idriss said, sharing some of their traditions. "In elimination rounds what side you debate (affirmative or negative) is decided based on a coin flip," Idriss said. "We, for one, never flip without our coach Josh Clark in the room, and two, Katie is the one who calls it." They began doing that after having their first big win against one of the top-ranked teams, Damien High School, and it has not failed them since. Clark says that his goal is now centered on the Tournament of Champions. "We want to get Katie and Richard to clear at the Tournament of Champions in the top eight and finish with a national ranking in the top 10," Clark said. The team’s next big tournament, St. Mark’s, will be in the second week of October in Dallas, Texas. Meanwhile, Ryan Keenan and Sean Williams, both juniors, took first place in the varsity division at Long Beach, Calif., and were awarded a bid to the Tournament of Champions. Also, the Soaring Eagle first-year debaters took first place at the first in-state tournament of the year, at Highland High School.
Stay Connected With Us