Ten Speech and Debate Students Qualify to National Catholic Finals
Shawn Robinson '16, Frederick Blunt, '16, David Grabowski '16, Nicholas Petaccio '16, Evan Dugery '16, Domenico Mazzeo '16, Benjamin Fedgechin '17, William Oxenford '17, Patrick Kelly '18, and John Santoro '18 qualified for the NCFL Finals in Sacramento, CA over Memorial Day Weekend.
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Ten students from La Salle College High School qualified to represent the Archdiocese of Philadelphia at the National Catholic Forensics League (NCFL) National Speech and Debate Finals. Shawn Robinson '16, Frederick Blunt, '16, David Grabowski '16, Nicholas Petaccio '16, Evan Dugery '16, Domenico Mazzeo '16, Benjamin Fedgechin '17, William Oxenford '17, Patrick Kelly '18, and John Santoro '18 placed in the top 6 of their events at the Philadelphia Catholic Forensics League (PCFL) Varsity Finals to qualify for the 2016 NCFL Finals over Memorial Day Weekend in Sacramento, CA.
Robinson, Blunt, and Grabowski impressively finished as three of the Top 4 students in Lincoln-Douglas Debate from the Philadelphia area. They individually debated both sides of the bi-monthly topic Resolved: The United States ought to promote democracy in the Middle East. The teams of Petaccio-Dugery and Oxenford-Santoro finished as 2 of the top 6 in Policy Debate. As two-person teams, they debated both sides of the year-long topic Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially curtail its domestic surveillance.
Fedgechin qualified to NCFL Nationals in the Original Oratory event, presenting his self-written, memorized, 10-minute persuasive speech about the importance of storytelling and oral traditions. In the Declamation event, Kelly qualified to NCFL Nationals with his 10-minute, memorized presentation of Eduardo Briceno's TEDTalk on growth-mindset entitled The Power of Belief. Mazzeo qualified in the Dramatic Performance event, with his 10-minute, memorized, humorous interpretation of the play Imaginary Harry.
Exact placements in the events will be announced at the PCFL Banquet in May as well as Team Awards. In addition to the ten National Qualifiers, a number of La Salle students will also be recognized at the Banquet for placing in the Top 10 of their events:
- Nicholas Parkes '16 - Top 10 in Dramatic Performance
- Brian Mischler '17 - Top 10 in Original Oratory
- Desmond Young '18 - Top 10 in Declamation