Riverside students place among nation’s best
Greer’s Carol Lee advanced further than anyone else in the state of South Carolina at the National Speech & Debate Association National Tournament last month in Dallas.
The rising senior at Riverside High School placed 12th in the nation out of a field of more than 250 as a semifinalist in Humorous Interpretation, a main event of the competition. She was also a semifinalist in Storytelling, a consolation event.
She became involved in Riverside’s accomplished speech-and-debate program at the urging of her brother, Kevin, now a student at Rice University, though it was his participation as the captain of the team that initially made her leery of joining.
“It was the younger sibling complex,” Carol said. “Then he finally got me to go to a speech-and-debate summer camp. The cost was low, and I had some friends going, so I figured why not give it a shot. I did, and I fell in love with it. And I have been here ever since.”
Riverside’s Stephanie Hong, her school’s valedictorian, finished as a national semifinalist in the supplemental event of expository speaking. She was also honored for qualifying for the national tournament every year of her high school career, in Original Oratory, Humorous Interpretation, Duo Interpretation and Dramatic Interpretation.
Team director David Dejesa, who’s been involved with Riverside’s program for 10 years, received his first Diamond Award at the event to signify achievements of a coach and students. The honor was based on a points system awarded through participants’ places.
Riverside’s Michael Gallagher was elected to preside in a national congress chamber.
The South Carolina District Committee, meanwhile, selected 10 students to represent the state as members of two teams in the National Speech and Debate Association World Schools Debate Invitational, held as part of the national tournament in Dallas. Seven of the participants came from Riverside, the rest from Southside, Greenville Tech Charter High and Waccamaw.
Riverside coach Greg Cook led both squads’ efforts.
The South Carolina Red team scored a winning record, broke to the double octafinal and was ranked among the top 26 teams. Riverside’s Nicole Patterson, Devin Remley, Gabriel Williams and Sarai Dai joined Greenville Tech Charter’s Omar Abeladl on the team.
Riverside’s Ashley Marler, Abigail Holland and Sooruj Bhatia were members of the South Carolina Blue team.
- Follow Michael Burns on Twitter @MikeNearGreer