Senior David Goldberg “unofficially” won Marshall’s first ever speech medal in Lincoln-Douglas forum at an Edison High School debate and forensics tournament. According to sponsor Jeannine Mortell, Goldberg came in second place but the decision was challenged as “his ballots clearly showed a win” over the first-place contender.
Junior Khalid Hassan placed first in the junior varsity Lincoln-Douglas forum as did senior Lauren Merlino and sophomore Taruni Paleru in Public forum.
Competitions ranged from teams of two debating national issues in a Public forum to one-on-one discussions concerning social and moral values in a Lincoln-Douglas forum.
The team also competed in extemporaneous debate with sophomore Kishan Mathur as its sole representative. Mathur, who placed third, said he had 30 minutes to prepare a ten-minute speech for a topic given to him on the spot.
The growth of the team has contributed to the club’s success this year. Mathur and Tobias, who placed third and second respectively in their competitions, are both newcomers.
According to new member Jasmine Oo, junior, the success of new members rests in the weeks of preparation they have before competition. Paleru said the team trained twice a week before tournaments while Mathur added he had “documents, articles and information” on hand for whatever topic he might get.
The growth has increased the number of tournaments the team can attend.
“We had only two students competing last year,” Mortell said. This year, 12 members competed at Edison, while 24 competed at the previous tournament.
“We’re growing; it’s definitely exciting,” Mortell said.
This is the first year the team has participated in the Northern Virginia chapter of the National Forensics League.