The King’s Speech and Debate team traveled to UPS for the State Speech tournament, and secured 4th Place! While historical records of Washington Speech and Debate vary, it is clear that King’s is one of very few first year programs to secure a top-5 finish at State.
“I’m really proud of the team for this accomplishment,” said Josh Jablon, Speech & Debate Coach. “New coaches and new participants in the activity, mostly underclassmen, going in and competing against the best in the State – especially some students who have been doing this for several years, and probably even had the summer and last school year to work on these performances – is outstanding. Add on the time lost due to snow, and over half the team contracting the flu just days before the competition—this was truly an unforgettable first year.”
Individually, the team had three State Champions—Elizabeth Anderson (Original Oratory) and the team of Dalton Schwab and Sam Hutmacher (Duo Interpretation). King’s, Gig Harbor (the 3A and below State Champions) and Thomas Jefferson (the 4A State Champions) were the only schools to secure multiple individual State Championships! Victoria Smith (2nd Place Humorous Interpretation) and Maci Hodgins (3rd Place Expository) were also major contributors to the 4th Place result.
“This was not a perfect season—those probably don’t exist,” said Mr. Jablon. “There’s a lot to improve, and a lot of reason to believe that the team will only get better, but it will never quite be like the first year ever again. 4th place, in this case, meant that we were only behind the teams that also finished 1-3 in the state last year, and beat Seattle Academy (5th)—a program that won State 11 out of the last 20 years. We were also one of only three programs (alongside the 3A and 4A State Champions) that had multiple individual state championships. We’re very proud of our team, and excited to see what comes next!”
Congratulations to all who have participated in the inaugural King’s Speech & Debate program this year! Next year, we go for the gold.