The speech and debate team made history at the Harvard National Forensics Tournament Feb. 15, when the largest number of Lincoln-Douglas debaters ever qualified for the prestigious Tournament of Champions in May.
To qualify for the TOC, Lincoln-Douglas debaters go through a series of elimination rounds and must earn two bids. At the Harvard competition, debaters had to advance through eight rounds in order to qualify for TOC.
“The fact that we broke the record for number of debaters qualified to the Tournament of Champions really speaks to the fact that not only do we have one or two talented kids, but our team has a depth that a lot of other schools are lacking,” sophomore Stephanie Franklin said. “It’s really great to be a part of such a successful year, and I’m lucky to have such a talented senior and junior class ahead of me that I can look up to.”
It’s in part thanks to senior Ben Lewis, Lincoln-Douglas debate captain, that Franklin earned her second bid to enter the TOC. In one round of the tournament, Lewis was slated to face Franklin. Since teammates can’t compete against each other and Lewis was a higher seed, he would have progressed to the next round ahead of her. Instead, Lewis gave up his seed so Franklin could advance and have the opportunity to earn a bid for TOC.
In giving up his spot, Lewis allowed Franklin to advance to the double-octofinals. Franklin already had one bid, and went on to win the double-ocotfinal and the octo-final, earning her final bid needed for the TOC.
“After I found out I had qualified to the Tournament of Champions, it was obviously a great individual achievement and I was really happy, but to know that I had allowed us to break the record just made it that much more of a great experience,” Franklin said.
Franklin added that she was particularly thankful to Lewis for helping her get the bid and contribute to breaking the record.
Coach Anjan Choudhury cites that this isn’t the first time Lewis has gone out of the way for a teammate.
“Last year, as a junior, Ben gave up his spot to the NFL Nationals–as one of only two students to receive that honor in the state of Maryland–so that a senior on our team could go,” said Choudhury. “So, [this time] I wasn’t entirely surprised. That said, there are very few people I’ve ever met with Ben’s character.”
Choudhury is extremely proud of the team’s success, and attributes it to their hard work and the team’s growing size.
“The seniors in this group were freshmen when I came to Whitman, and to see how far they have brought the team in that short time is really amazing,” Choudhury said.
He also compliments the team for their victories and hard efforts.
“While the amount of work that the team requires can, at times, be overwhelming, so too are the accomplishments of these students,” he adds.
Franklin and Lewis will attend the TOC with nine of their fellow Lincoln-Douglas debaters: seniors Stefanie Rohde, Caroline Sherrard, Perry Green, Emily Massey, Jane Kessner and juniors Alex Zimmermann, Marshall Thompson and Daniel Imas.
Overall, 20 Whitman students qualified to the TOC. Six Public Forum debaters and four Student Congress debaters will join the Lincoln-Douglas debaters at the TOC. In addition, there is another congress debater and six to eight more Public Forum debaters who could gain at-large entry to the competition.
