Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy: Speech & Debate Caps Busy Month with Wins

At the last major tournament over the weekend of  February 18-20, the California Invitational Tournament at UC Berkeley, Monica Amestoy ’13 broke into the elimination rounds for Varsity Lincoln/Douglas debate, placing her in the top 25 competitors among 387; and Madeline Collins ’15 did the same in the Junior Varsity Lincoln/Douglas category, placying her in the top 32 among 208 debaters. That event is one of the largest competitions in the country and includes more than 2,000 participants from 250 high schools.

Also participating at the California Invitational Tournament were Phoebe Pittman ’15, Maddy Sturma ’15, Dani Chavez ’14 and Margaret Lee ’13. The weekend before that was the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif., where Margaret Lee ’13 received a trophy in the semi-finals of JV Impromptu Speaking and Monica Amestoy ’13 finished with a 4-3 record, ranking in the top 50 of 170 Varsity debaters from across the country. Also attending were Rebecca Ayala ’14, Dani Chavez ’14, Rachel Koo ’14, Hannah Sipe ’15, Maddy Collins ’15 and Maddy Sturma ’15. Rebecca Ayala ’14 and Monica Amestoy ’13 traveled to Las Vegas for the Golden Desert Invitational over

February 3-5. It was Rebecca’s first big Speech & Debate tournament outside of the local area, and she finished with a record of 2-4. February is the busiest month for the Speech & Debate Team, and Monica Amestoy ’13’s performance throughout the school year qualified her for the National Debate Coaches Association Championship Tournament in April.

“It was a total success in debating and her determination to compete that got her welcomed to this tournament,” says Speech & Debate moderator Leilani McHugh.