Pios Go to Nationals!

March and April bring rain to Palatine Hill, but they also bring the close to the forensics season.

This year, two Lewis & Clark debate teams qualified for the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence (NPTE), a 64-team tournament of the top parliamentary debate teams from throughout the season. The Pios picked up some ballots and a lot of experience. Maia Sakradse, Joe Hykan, Alex Beck, and Emily Halter attended the tournament. The three non-graduating students–Sakradse, Hykan, and Halter–all hope to be back next year and make a run for the title. The tournament represented a culmination of four years of hard work for Beck, who has competed in multiple debate formats and speech events at Lewis & Clark.

Four teams competed at the National Parliamentary Debate Association National Tournament one week later. In addition to the two teams that went to the NPTE, the Pios added Pam Garman, Ben Harrison, Halah Ilias, and Joe Ellerbroek to the crew. Over 150 teams competed at the NPDA tournament. The team of Beck and Halter advanced to the round of 64, losing on a 2-1 decision to eventual semi-finalists from CU-Boulder. The squad as a whole received 13th in tournament sweepstakes. No team left the tournament with a losing record.