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Conor Hogan '15 and Jack Grogan '15 Place 3rd in Policy Debate at NDCA National Championship

Conor Hogan '15 and Jack Grogan '15 Place 3rd in Policy Debate at NDCA National Championship
The 2015 NDCA National Championship was held at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and drew more than 400 students representing approximately 100 high schools across 26 states.
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Pictured: Coach Michael McCabe '08, Conor Hogan '15, Jack Grogan '15, and Coach Greg Porter '10.

La Salle College High School seniors Conor Hogan '15 and Jack Grogan '15 placed third nationally in Policy Debate at the 2015 National Debate Coaches Association (NDCA) National Championship. Conor was also recognized with the 9th Place Speaker Award at the tournament. The 2015 NDCA National Championship was held at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and drew more than 400 students representing approximately 100 high schools across 26 states.

The NDCA has a qualification system for teams to compete at the National Championship tournament. Each team takes their the best five tournaments from throughout the current academic year and uses an equation which gives weight to factors such as 1) size of the tournament 2) number of states represented at the tournament and 3) level of success at the tournament. Any team with a total of 500 points or more when using the formula is automatically qualified to the NDCA National Championship. Additional teams may also apply for admission.


Last year was the first year that La Salle had a team compete at the NDCA National Championship. At the 2014 tournament, held at Weber State University in Utah, Conor and Jack and placed in the Top 32. This year John Curran '15 and Nick Petaccio '16 also competed at the NDCA Championship.

Conor, Jack, John, and Nick will be among the 12 La Salle students to represent the Archdiocese of Philadelphia at the 2015 National Catholic Forensics League (NCFL) National Finals in Fort Lauderdale over Memorial Day Weekend. Last year Conor and Jack Placed 3rd at National Catholics, while John and Nick placed 10th, and last year's seniors Kevin Gay '14 and Andrew Durkin placed 4th. To date, this is still believe to be the only time three teams from one school have placed in the top ten of Policy Debate at the National Catholic Finals.

Conor, Jack, John, and Nick will finish their season as four of the seven La Salle students representing the Valley Forge District at the National Speech & Debate Association National Finals.