Speech and debate team still manages to maintain success; summer effort impressed audiences at Portland nationals

By: Nick Louw

September 22, 2000

As Grad Night 2000 came to a close at 5 a.m. on Sunday, June 11, the graduated alumni of last year’s speech and debate team geared up for the National Forensics League competition.

Seniors Mike Hogg and Zanab Hussain and 2000 graduates Lauren Kuhn, Azver Hussain and Emily Robinson all left on their trip to Portland, Ore., for the national championships a mere two hours after Grad Night concluded.

“I had to leave Grad Night early so that I could be well rested for the flight to Nationals” Kuhn said.

Under the guidance of Rita Prichard, last year’s seniors effectively represented the high school they had just graduated from. This required, according to Prichard, an intense amount of dedication.

“On the (graduates) part, it was hard because we had to stick it out and compete for the school we just left” Azver Hussain said.

Unperturbed about the heavy competition, the Grizzlies arrived at the competition with high prospects in mind.

“Our league has a very poor record at nationals. It’s unheard of to even break the top 50,” Kuhn said.

Kuhn, Hussain and Robins competed in Speech rounds while Hogg was in debate.

Hussain took part in International Extemp; intense rounds of unprepared half hour speeches on world issues.

Despite his impeccable abilities in reasoning, Hussain fell through on the first round. However, he was still able to compete in the Reconciliation and Supplementary events, both of which were for sub-National competition.

“If you were knocked out of your round you could still compete for honors, but not at the national level” Hussain said.

Robins partook in Auditory where she had to perform a speech written by someone else.

Hogg, who strayed from the speech part of the competition, made his mark in Member of Congress.

With bills and acts at the tip of his finger he debated and reasoned viewpoints on national laws.

Kuhn took part in Dramatic Interpretation where she had to perform schizophrenic acting. With a script in hand she would switch between characters as she recited a well-studied play.

To her surprise and joy, Kuhn defied all odds of her league and pulled through.

“I broke through to the top 50 and the entire league was behind me,” Kuhn said. “Then I ended up breaking the top thirty which was even more exciting because only a few people in our league have ever gotten that far.”

After breaking 30, Kuhn dropped making her prominent mark at the competition.

“It was really great,” Kuhn said. “The competition was really fierce and it was a lot of fun to get to know the other competitors.”

The speech is only half the competition for Kuhn because it is mostly about perseverance.

“The competition is all about your length of endurance”, said Kuhn. “It’s very repetitious.”

When the five-day competition came to a close, the Granite Bay High School Speech and Debate team left contented.

After smashing the competition at state, the team is hoping to continue its pattern of success.