Roosevelt’s 2024 National Speech and Debate Results

The 2024 National Speech and Debate tournament has concluded! Roosevelt had 13 students compete at the tournament – here are the highlights, courtesy of ​Parker Klyn, Roosevelt Director of Forensics, Speech & Debate.

Charlie Timm & Sree Baruri finished 34th in the country in Public Forum debate, winning 9 out of 12 preliminary ballots and making it to the third elimination round. This was the best nationals performance by an Iowa PF team since 2018!

Ingrid Alg-Liening finished 8th in the country out of nearly 1000(!) entrants in Extemporaneous Debate, making it all the way to the seventh elimination round and being recognized as a national semifinalist – the first time an Iowa speaker/debater has been recognized as a national semifinalist in three years.

Calvin Goldsberry and Roland Preston both made it to elimination rounds in Extemporaneous Debate as well, with Calvin making it to the third elim and Roland making it to the second.

Henry Godar had the highest-placing Program of Oral Interpretation out of any Iowa speaker.

Nanees Abakar had the highest-placing Informative speech out of any Iowa speaker.

Curtis Badio and Harry Hansen were the highest-placing Congressional Debaters out of any Iowa performers.

Vaughn McIver, in World Schools, was one of only four 9th graders from Iowa to compete in a main event at nationals.

Jonah Cornelisse competed in United States Extemporaneous Speaking.

Lilah Hopper-Hedges and Nirmal Melam both competed in Extemporaneous Debate as 9th graders.

Roosevelt competed in more elimination rounds than the rest of Iowa combined.

Our team members collectively volunteered over 200 hours to ensure that the tournament ran successfully. I want to highlight Sushen Baruri (45 volunteer hours), Bianka Chilongo (39 hours), and Parker Magill (31 hours) for going above and beyond and not only spending a ridiculous amount of time volunteering, but also doing so in a way that was incredibly helpful and productive. When they were asked to do something, they did it well. And helping to host means we get a share of the hospitality proceeds, which will be able to pay for team materials and even travel tournaments in the future.

I judged the final round of Public Forum debate on the big stage at HyVee Hall as part of a panel that included Hall of Famers and Iowa State Rep. Jennifer Konfrst (a former Roosevelt debate parent herself)!

Our principal, Steve Schappaugh, was inducted into the National Speech and Debate Association Hall of Fame while serving as tournament chair. We are so lucky to have an administration that knows and cares about speech and debate.

It was a truly excellent set of performances from our speakers and debaters.

I would like to think our assistant coaches Dylan Morgan and Coralynn Siemonsma for judging three full days, as well as Naura Godar, Matt McIver, and Steve King for judging as well.

I also want to recognize Curtis, Calvin, Roland, and Charlie, who all competed in the final tournaments of their storied high school careers this week. Between them, they’ve qualified to the national tournament nine times, made it to the Tournament of Champions three times, won over 25 tournament championships, and were all team captains over the past year. They each earned either the highest or second-highest rank in the NSDA Honor Society, and they will be missed dearly as they graduate and head to college.

Thank you all for a wonderful season. Roosevelt was, objectively speaking, the best-performing overall speech and debate team in the state this past year, but what will stick with me just as much as competitive success is the laughs at practice, the camaraderie during the team dinners, and the growth of these students as both competitors and as people. I could not be prouder of this team.

I hope you all enjoy your summers. Parents of graduating seniors, if you want to stay involved with the team through judging or other support, keep in touch – we would love to have you. For the rest of you, stay tuned for our preseason camp and captains’ meetings as we head into 2024-2025!

Photos of the 2024 National Speech and Debate Tournament