Indy Bound! Congratulations to Wellington's Policy Debate Team of Richard Odle & Yourui Ruan, who advanced to the 2012 NFL National Debate Championship in Indianapolis, and to Michael Leatherman, second alternate in Lincoln Douglas Debate! The policy team placed in the top three of their event at the NFL Panther District National Qualifier Tournament, held on the campus of Legacy HS in Ocoee, January 20-21, while Leatherman placed fifth overall in LD. Along with the Wellington team, debaters from five other Palm Beach schools advanced to the national championships - Jupiter, Suncoast, Royal Palm Beach, Atlantic, and American Heritage Boca/Delray.

January PBCFL @ Wellington: Wellington hosted its second debate tournament of the 2011-12 season on January 14, and scored several impressive honors in the process. Mike Reynolds took first place overall in Dramatic Performance. The Public Forum Debate team of Sabrina Abesamis & Madison Dalton went 3-1 and placed 4th; the PFD team of Kevin Murphy & Alexa Fortuna also went 3-1. Yourui Ruan went 3-1 in Lincoln Douglas Debate and placed 5th. Wellington debaters earned four additional National Forensic League degrees, bringing its total to 45 for the year and 198 overall; earning new degrees were Fortuna (Special Distinction, surpassing 500 points), Michael Leatherman (Excellence, 150+ points), Josh Harmon (Honor, 75+ points), and Issahy Cano Olivas (Merit, 25+ points).
Additionallty, Coach Gaba thanks the parents and volunteer students who labored in the cafeteria and media center judge lounge for nearly 13 hours setting up, running lunch and the concession stand, and positively representing the program for nearly 400 competitors and adult judges and coaches from Palm Beach and Martin counties.

Fun at the Sunvitational: Wellington Debate had some serious fun at the 2012 Sunvitational in Ft. Lauderdale last weekend. All three Novice Lincoln Douglas Debate students earned accolades: Mike Leatherman advanced to semifinals, placing 3rd overall, and was 7th-best speaker; Logan Weber broke to quarters, where he "lost" to Leatherman on coach Paul Gaba's first-ever debate coach-over, but was the tourney's top speaker in NLD; and Leila Booeshaghi was the event's 6th-best speaker, becoming only the third Wellington debater since Gaba became coach in 2002 to score a "best speaker" recognition with a losing record. (FYI, this is an extremely rare accomplishment in all of debate.) The Public Forum Debate team of Richard Odle and Sabrina Abisamis broke to double octofinals before dropping. Four new National Forensic League advanced degrees were earned: Odle (Special Distinction, 500+ NFL points), Abesamis (Excellence, 150+), Ali Sina Booeshaghi (Excellence), and Leila Booeshaghi (Honor, 75+, Varsity Letter!).

December PBCFL Funvitational @ West Boca Raton: Wellington Debate kicked butt and took names at the 2011 PBCFL Funvitational at West Boca Raton HS. Sina Booeshaghi & Yourui Ruan went 4-0 and took first place in Public Forum Debate! Juan Arango and Victoria Perih each placed fourth in their Student Congress chambers! Michael Leatherman placed sixth in Lincoln Douglas Debate! Issahy Cano Olivas just missed placing in Student Congress, taking seventh. Earning NFL degrees: Yourui Ruan (Excellence), Joshua Batista (Merit), Elijah Elkins (Merit), Dalizza Mosquera (Merit) and Victoria Perih (Merit). Way to close out the first semester!

Patriot Games Invitational @ George Mason University: Five members of the Wellington Debate Team earned accolades at the 2011 George Mason University Patriot Games Invitational Debate Tournament in Fairfax, Virginia this past weekend. In Public Forum Debate, the junior team of Rachel Ganon and Shivan Kanagaraja went 4-1 in preliminary rounds and were the 22nd-ranked team (out of more than 100). They advanced to the tournament's octofinal round, ending as one of the top 16 teams overall. The senior team of Katerina Mangini and Richard Odle were the top 3-2 team in the tournament, ranked 23rd overall, and fell in the double-octofinal round. In Humorous Interpretation, junior Mike Reynolds broke to the quarterfinal round with his presentation of "Nerd Camp." Additionally, in Lincoln Douglas Debate, freshman Greg Foster and sophomore Yourui Ruan both went 3-2. Ruan was the 36th-ranked LD competitor, and Foster enjoyed his first winning tournament record. Four debaters earned National Forensic League degrees. Reynolds passed the 750-point mark and earned his Degree of Superior Distinction, Foster earned his varsity debate letter and Degree of Honor, passing the 75-point mark, and both Blake Kessler and Amber Radcliff earned their Degree of Honor and NFL certificates.

November PBCFL @ Suncoast: OMG! Wellington Debate absolutely ROCKED THE HOUSE at Suncoast November 12! ROLL CALL!
- PUBLIC FORUM DEBATE may have been the most DOMINANT performance I have ever witnessed by Wellington in a single event. Richard Odle & Kevin Murphy went 4-0 and placed 3rd; Madison Dalton & Alexa Fortuna went 3-1 and placed 4th; Sina Booeshaghi & Stephie Maravankin went 3-1 and placed 6th; Sabrina Abesamis & Juliana Diatezua went 3-1 and placed 7th; and Sydney Rogalsky & Caitlyn Konopka went 3-1 and placed 8th. That's five of the top eight, out of 34 teams. That's an overall PFD record of 16-4. AMAZING!
- LINCOLN DOUGLAS DEBATE saw three Wolverines earn accolades. Ryan Kennedy placed 6th in Varsity LD, while Yourui Ruan, Michael Leatherman and Jon DeLaura each went 3-1. Ruan was 4th in Novice LD, Leatherman was 6th, and DeLaura was 8th (out of 29 Novice LD entries). Additionally, Logan Weber, Leila Booeshaghi, Greg Foster and King Gary each went 2-2 (Gary's first LD victories!), and Matt Faraone earned a win in his first-ever LD competition.
- LEGISLATIVE DEBATE witnessed Juan Arango take second place in his congress chamber, while Jon Lucien ranked fourth.
- DUO INTERPRETATION had the team of Mike Reynolds & Valentina Ferreira placed 6th.
- NOVICE ORAL INTERPRETATION saw Blake Kessler place 13th out of 38 entries.
Wellington earned eight new National Forensic League degrees, bringing the year's total to 27 and the overall total to 180. Earning their Degree of Merit certificates were Faraone, Gary and Konopka. Earning their Degree of Honor and varsity debate letters were Arango, DeLaura and Leatherman. And earning the degree of Excellence (150+ points) were Diatezua and Murphy.
Wellington's next tournament is at the George Mason University Patriot Games Invitational December 1-5. The last tournament of the calendar year is the PBCFL All-Novice and Funvitational at West Boca Raton on December 10.

Florida Blue Key Invitational: Big props to Wellington Debate for a very successful Florida Blue Key weekend in Gainesville! Sophomore Yourui Ruan went 4-2 in Novice Lincoln Douglas Debate and advanced to the quarterfinal round, ranking as one of the top eight novice LD competitors at the University of Florida-hosted tournament. Additionally, Mike Reynolds reached semifinals in Extemporaneous Duo with his partner from Trinity Prep (yes, in Extemp Duo you're allowed to work with someone from a different school). It's Reynolds' second consecutive year advancing to break rounds in the supplemental event. Ruan, Logan Weber and Ali Sina Booeshaghi each earned their Wellington Debate varsity letter by surpassing the National Forensic League's 75-point mark. Wellington's next tournament is November 12 at the PBCFL @ Suncoast.

Titan Invitational @ Nova HS: WellyWorld Debate kicked tail at the Nova Titan Invitational October 21-22. Mike Reynolds places 3rd in Humorous Interp; PFDers Sabrina Abesamis & Juliana Diatezua go 5-1 in prelims and 7-2 overall, falling in semifinals; the PFD teams of Sina Booeshaghi/Stephie Maravankin and Madison Dalton/Alexa Fortuna each went 4-2 in prelims before falling in octos; and Logan Weber went 4-2 in novice Lincoln Douglas before falling in octos. Earning their NFL certificates were Leila Booeshaghi, Yourui Ruan (3-3 in his first-ever LD competition) and Kwadjo Walker, and Abesamis earned her NFL Degree of Honor and varsity debate letter. Wellington's next tournament is October 27-30 at the Florida Blue Key Invitational in Gainesville.

October PBCFL @ Lake Worth: WellyWorld ROCKED THE HOUSE at Lake Worth October 15. Katerina Mangini & Richard Odle went 4-0 and placed 6th in mixed (varsity and novice) Public Forum Debate; Mike Reynolds placed 6th in Dramatic Performance; novice Michael Leatherman went 3-1 and took 6th in mixed Lincoln Douglas Debate; and novice Juan Arango placed 4th in mixed Student Congress In addition, Stephie Maravankin & novice Ali Sina Booeshaghi went 3-1 in mixed PFD, Madison Dalton & Alexa Fortuna went 3-1 in mixed PFD, Sydney Rogalsky & novice Jimmy Smith went 2-2 in mixed PFD, novices Jon DeLaura and Greg Foster each went 2-2 in mixed LD, and novices Logan Weber and Leila Booeshaghi each won a mixed LD round. Eight new National Forensic League degrees were earned: Leatherman, Ali Sina Booeshaghi, Foster, DeLaura & Weber each earned their NFL Degree of Merit by surpassing the 25-point mark, Rogalsky earned her Degree of Excellence (150 points), and Maravankin & Sara Fabben earned their NFL Degree of Distinction (250 points). Wellington's next two tournaments are overnighters - October 21-22 at the Titan Invitational in Ft. Lauderdale, and October 27-30 at the Florida Blue Key Invitational in Gainesville.

September PBCFL All-Congress @ Wellington: Props to Wellington debaters who gave speeches, cross-examined other students, presided over rounds, and judged first-time debaters from 18 different Palm Beach County and Martin County students. Wellington rocked the joint in so many ways, it's almost impossible to keep track! Luckily, I have some results to pass along. Cudos to the following: Madison Barry, who swept both judges' first-place ballots in Session 2 and placed first overall in Novice House H; Ali Sina Booeshaghi, who placed second overall in Novice House L; Greg Foster and Jon DeLaura, who took third and fifth, respectively, in Novice House F; Dalizza Mosquera, who ranked fourth in Novice House J; Logan Weber and Kwadjo Walker, who placed sixth in Novice House B and Novice House G; Jon Lucien, who took sixth in Varsity Senate B and was voted Chamber's Choice Presiding Officer (and earned his NFL Degree of Excellence, too, surpassing the 150-point mark); and Scott Meskin, who was named Chamber's Choice PO by the novice debaters he presided over. Additionally, eight Wellington debaters were ranked by at least one judge during the competition: Joshua Batista, Issahy Cano Olivas, Makaylan Clark, Elijah Elkins, Alex Kallen, Michael Leatherman, Joy Lopez and Krystelle Louis, meaning more than half of the Wellington competitors received some sort of recognition during the tournament!

The Brag Board 2010-11: How Wellington debaters fared during the 2010-11 school year.

The Brag Board 2009-10: How Wellington debaters fared during the 2009-10 school year.

The Brag Board 2008-09: How Wellington debaters fared during the 2008-09 school year.

The Brag Board 2007-08: How Wellington debaters fared during the 2007-08 school year.

The Brag Board 2006-07: How Wellington debaters fared during the 2006-07 school year.

The Brag Board 2005-06: How Wellington debaters fared during the 2005-06 school year.

The Brag Board 2004-05: How Wellington debaters fared during the 2004-05 school year.