Jumping Jacks at the Philhistorian High School Championship Tournament

The Philhistorian Debating Society is one of the oldest associations dedicated to the promotion of Speech and Debate within the state of California. The Philhistorian has had massive impacts in shaping the debate landscape of California, and they have played a hand in founding both the Pacific Forensic League and the Northern California Forensic Association. On March 25th-26th, the Philhistorian Debating Society had graciously opened its doors to two SVUDL debaters at its annual High School Championship Tournament, waiving all judge and team fees in order to make their tournament more accessible to us.

Frank Shau and Chloe Truong competed in the Philhistorian’s High School Public Forum online division last weekend. On Saturday, they swept the house clean, winning every one of their preliminary rounds. Because of their success and status as a top team, they were able to forgo the first elimination round and move directly to the second elimination round on Sunday. The duo ended up placing 4th overall in the tournament. In addition, both students were in the top 5 speakers of their division, with Frank (5th) and Chloe (2nd) showing their individual prowess on top of their team success. We at SVUDL couldn’t be more proud!

Chloe reflected on the experience, sharing, “Honestly I did not expect much this tournament, but I was pleasantly surprised with our results. I think the main thing that helped us was the fact we did the Ryan Mills tournament against many fierce opponents, which helped us overcome that fear. I was really nervous working with a new partner and being the second speaker in the Public Forum event for the first time. This past year I have only worked as first speaker, but at this tournament I learned that I love being second speaker. I love the control I have over the rebuttals and the ability to have the final word. I’m very grateful to have made it that far with Frank, and I enjoyed our preparations (jumping jacks) before every round. ”

Thank you to the Philhistorian Debating Society for making this event possible!