Hackley Debate Team Competes at Yale Invitational

Five Hackley Public Forum teams and two Hackley Parliamentary teams competed in over forty rounds of debate from Friday, September 13th through Sunday, September 15th at the Yale Invitational, one of the first major national debate tournaments of the season.

Junior Ben Kirsch and Sophomore Zach Yusaf went 4-2 and earned a spot in elimination rounds in a field of over 200 Public Forum Varsity teams. Juniors Alex Goldman and Sid Shah entered the Varsity division for the first time. Freshman Zara Yusaf and Zach Couzens and sophomores Michael Lee and Sydney DeFillippo all competed in the JV Public Forum division against some of the best young debaters in the country. Senior Public Forum Co-captain Madeline Zuckerman with her partner co-novice director Max Rosenblum rounded out the Public Forum squad with a strong showing in the Varsity division as well.

On the Parliamentary debate side, Junior Parli Co-captain Kiri Fitzpatrick and her partner, freshman Amy Kliatchko, earned a spot in elimination rounds as the 12th ranked team out of a field of 81, including some of the best HS Parliamentary debate teams in the nation. They ultimately lost to the team that went on to win the tournament. Freshman Mason Napach and Michael Potanin had a winning record against debaters who were mostly two or three years older.

Overall, it was an extraordinary weekend for the US debate program.
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