Sixth consecutive state title for JDCHS debaters

Friday, Apr. 29, 2016

DRAPER — The season never ends for the Juan Diego Catholic High School debate team, whose members often spend summers honing their skills at camps, then return to school in the fall ready to prepare for their first tournament in October. With spring comes the post-season and state competition. Afterward, for those who qualify, are national tournaments.

The debaters who advance to national competition “are typically those with the strongest work ethic,” said Moses Baca, JDCHS debate coach. 

“What’s uncommon about debaters is they’re staying after school so they can learn more,” Baca said, adding that after school in the debate room one can hear conversations about topics such as economic sanctions and difficult moral questions. “That’s something that is not normal, but it’s what distinguishes these students from others and ultimately serves them very well in both their academic future, and I would even go so far as to say in life in general.”

That work ethic has paid off for the JDCHS debate team, which this year claimed its sixth consecutive state title, with many of the team members taking individual awards as well.

This win also marked the Soaring Eagle’s seventh state championship in eight years.

“The effort to succeed as a team at the state tournament is something that’s always been part of our culture, so that’s something that we make clear from the moment they  sign up for debate as freshmen, so they know that’s part of who we are and it’s part of what we do,” Baca said.

Lauren Andrews, who with her partner Brendan McQuillan shared the state championship policy debate title with teammates Emily Luther and Emi Solorzano, said the team’s sense of community and the friendships she has built have kept her on the team since her freshman year.

In addition, she appreciates that the coaches encourage debaters “to become our own thinkers, and talk and research about things we are interested in,” said Andrews, who considers debate a natural outgrowth of the skills she learned while participating in mock trial in middle school.

A senior, Andrews has received a merit scholarship to the University of Southern California, and is waiting to hear about a debate scholarship. Meanwhile, she and partner Nicole Blaber are preparing to compete in policy debate at the Tournament of Champions in Kentucky, where the top 64 teams compete for the national title.

Like Andrews, Emi Solorzano felt comfortable with public speaking when he was a freshman, but he joined the debate team because he “wanted to hone those skills and apply them to critical thinking,” he said.

As a freshman at West High School, he participated in Lincoln-Douglas debate, but after transferring to JDCHS he changed to policy debate. Now a junior, he is at a crossroads because he feels that “debate has given me everything it can” in terms of public speaking skills and the ability to evaluate situations based on evidence. Therefore, he is struggling with the decision whether to continue with debate in his senior year, or move on to other activities, he said.

About 60 students are involved with debate at JDCHS; about half of them compete at each of the various regional tournaments during the year, while the state tournament is limited to 25, Baca said.

“We put the most emphasis on policy debate because it is the form of debate that yields the greatest reward for the amount of work you put into it” in terms of skills refined and scholarship opportunities, he added, but public forum debate is suitable for students who also are involved in sports, such as Anna Warrell and David Hurtado, who finished second at the state tournament.