Pictured (l-r) are EL Forensics Team Place-Winners at The MLK Tournament: front row - Mika Smith – 6th Place in Novice LD; Haley Skinner – 4th Place in Novice LD; Keeley Carney – 5th Place in Novice LD; back row Austin Cohen – 1st Place in Varsity LD; Matthew Horvath – 4th Place in Varsity LD.
The Elk Lake Forensics team continued to dominate Lincoln-Douglas Debate at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Tournament at Meyers High School on January 19th by bringing home 5 individual trophies in the event.
Led by senior Austin Cohen, the team advanced 3 debaters to Semi-Finals and placed 2 more in the top 6 in their respective divisions.
Cohen compiled an undefeated 4 win and 0 loss record in the preliminary rounds and advanced to the Semi-Finals by defeating debaters from State College, Meyers, Southern Lehigh and Unionville HS in Varsity LD Debate.
Senior Matthew Horvath also advanced to the Semi-Finals in Varsity LD by compiling a 3 win and 1 loss record. His wins came over debaters from Meyers, Pennsbury, and Abington Heights HS.
Cohen and Horvath, for the second consecutive weekend were paired up against each other in Semi-Finals. Based on their records, Cohen advanced to Finals where he met up with Meaghan McDonald from Danville HS in a re-match from last weekend. Horvath would place 4th overall in Varsity LD.
In Finals, the results were the same. Cohen defeated McDonald to win the Varsity LD Championship.
Cohen has won all 7 tournaments he has entered in Varsity LD this year. Over the course of that run, he has compiled a record of 39 wins with only 3 losses.
In Novice LD, sophomore Haley Skinner advanced to her first ever Semi-Final in LD by compiling a 3 win and 1 loss preliminary record.
Skinner lost her Semi-Final to Barron Williams from Danville HS and placed 4th overall in Novice LD.
Sophomore Keeley Carney placed 5th in Novice LD by compiling a 3 win and 1 loss record during the preliminary rounds with wins over debaters from Abington Heights, Sayre, and Pocono Mountain West HS. She missed the cut to Semi-Finals by 3 speaker points.
Freshman Mika Smith placed 6th by defeating debaters from Dallastown, Abington Heights, and State College HS en-route to a 3 win and 1 loss record.
“This was another great performance by a very dedicated group of debaters. They have continued to challenge themselves and each other at practice and that is continuing to pay off at tournaments,” commented EL Forensics Director Keith Brosious.
The EL Forensics Team was to travel to Abington Heights on January 26th to compete at a Scranton Catholic Forensics League Tournament.
