MARCH 5, 2022: Today, students from across the Houston area made their triumphant return to the Bob Casey Federal Courthouse in downtown Houston for the annual HUDL City Championship Tournament.
Last year’s 2021 Championship Tournament, like most debate tournaments in the 2020-2021 school year, was conducted online. The debate world began returning to in-person competition during the 2021-2022 school year, with a mix of online and in-person tournaments. With the pandemic at long last easing in the Houston area, HUDL students from both the Houston Independent School District and the Harris County Department of Education's CASE Debates program were able to participate in this year's championship tournament.
The federal courts of the Southern District of Texas kindly made their courtrooms available for HUDL students to compete for this year's titles in each of HUDL's five divisions. Thanks to the generous and loving support of the Hatfield family, this year's champions and runners-up each receive Benjamin Donald Hatfield Scholarships to use toward their college educations.
This year's finalists and champions were:
Congress:
In 2nd place: Hannah Oelker, from Energy Institute HS in HISD
In 1st place: Max Fleisher, from Energy Institute HS in HISD
Lincoln-Douglas Debate:
In 2nd place, Zion Duplechain, from Energy Institute HS in HISD.
In 1st place, Kafi UmmaTul, from Challenge Early College HS in HISD.
Public Forum Debate:
In 2nd place, Heidi Chapin and Helen Repass, from Houston Academy for International Studies in HISD.
In 1st place, Roy Semaan and Cynthia Kong, from DeBakey HS for Health Professions in HISD.
Cross-Examination Policy Debate:
In 2nd place, Matthew Gonzales-Gordon and Alexander Prieto, from Heights High School in HISD.
In 1st place, Ajibola Yerokun and Al Nahiyan, from Alief Kerr High School, a CASE Debates school.
World Schools Debate:
In 2nd place, Joshua Romero, Danial Syed, Abeal Ghebrelul, Shiela Nguyen and Carlos Estimbo, from Alief Kerr High School, a CASE Debates school.
In 1st place, Diego Castillo, Ebenezer Appiah, Rubick Hernandez and Nhung Huynh, from Alief Elsik High School, a CASE Debates school.