‘Zero feelings of animosity’: 4A speech and debate state tournament held at Crimson Cliffs High School

WASHINGTON CITY— The 4A speech and debate state tournament Saturday at Crimson Cliffs High School showcased a unique event.

For fans who only follow the big high school sports (football, basketball, and the like), it proved to be an eye-opening experience that spotlighted the impressive group of students and teachers that participate in speech and debate.

“This sport has the longest season of any sport. We start in September,” Crimson Cliffs coach Sallie Sullivan told St George News. “It’s also a class for most of the teams, so they’re working every day. Some people work on their cases for an entire year. They put a ton of work into this.”

Crimson Cliffs hosted the state tournament, which featured 11 schools and nearly 200 students.

Competition was divided, like most 4A state athletic tournaments, into the teams from the North (Region 11) and the South (Region 10).

The 4A state champion speech and debate team from Ridgeline High School with their trophy at Crimson Cliffs High School, Washington, Utah, March 12, 2022

The top five 4A speech and debate winning teams were, in order: Ridgeline, Logan, Hurricane, Cedar and Mountain Crest.

Sullivan described the contingent from Crimson Cliffs as smaller this year but very strong.

“Consistently we’ve gotten really good results in the tournaments, especially in Foreign (Extemporaneous) we’ve always placed in the top. I’m just really impressed with my team. They’ve done very well.”

At the awards ceremony, Sullivan was named 4A Coach of the Year.

“I am ecstatic that Hurricane was able to take third,” Hurricane coach Chloe Cox said. “This is the first time that we’ve placed at state in… all of my knowledge! So it’s pretty impressive.

“My team has worked so hard. Just to see the kids grow from where they were at the beginning of the year to where they are now,” Cox added. “And to be able to put up such a good fight even though we are from a smaller area we were able to stand up and show up.”

It was clear the Region 10 teams have a little bit of ground to make up to catch their Region 11 opponents. Three of the top five teams were from northern schools and most of the individual state awards were won by Region 11 students.

Hurricane junior Lily Lohrey was the defending state champion in Lincoln-Douglas debates.

Hurricane students Aidan Gates (left) and Lily Lohrey (right) at the 4A state speech and debate tournament at Crimson Cliffs High School, Washington, Utah, March 12, 2022 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

“Meeting all of the Northern teams is crazy, they’re all really amazing people,” Lohrey said. “I definitely think there is a big difference (between Regions 10 and 11) but I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily a bad thing at all.”

Lohrey added that even though the teams had very different groups of people, they were all friendly with each other and got along well.

“It’s amazing to see all of the different ideas that come from different places,” Lohrey said. “I know that when you’re consistently competing against the same region it becomes a little monotonous and it’s amazing to experience all of the different viewpoints.”

Tigers team captain and senior Aidan Gates started participating in speech and debate as a freshman. 

“It seems like they’re from a completely different state sometimes and that they have altogether different rules,” Gates said. “A lot of things change between the regions.”

“I feel like some things down south are a lot more relaxed and then as you go up north it gets more competitive and more serious in some cases. So it’s interesting to see the difference between the two,” he added. “Up north they’re very professional in how they do things. And down here we’re a little more relaxed and just try to have a good time with it.”

Gates went on to finish second in the Congressional debate category and Hurricane teammate Kai Demedicis was the state champion.

Gates said that the years of competition fostered his intention to attend Southern Utah University and study political science.

“I would have never dreamed of doing that before, but being in speech and debate, it’s opened a whole new doorway for me,” Gates said.

Crimson Cliffs team captain and senior Jorge Pineda said the Mustangs have a unique team.

Crimson Cliffs students Chloe Hurd (left) and Jorge Pineda (right) at the 4A state speech and debate tournament at Crimson Cliffs High School, Washington, Utah, March 12, 2022 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

“Our team at Crimson Cliffs, and I think this is kind of noted throughout our Southern Region, it’s very diverse. We have a large category of people, all sides of the spectrum,” Pineda said. “And I think that’s one of the things that allows for our team to be so strong is that increase in diversity.”

Pineda intends to go to Utah State University and study political science.

“We have a lot of different contexts provided for every single argument and I think that’s one of the things that gives our team an edge,” he added. “We’re small but we pack a big punch.”

Crimson Cliffs junior Chloe Hurd will be a team captain next year.

“I didn’t really know what speech and debate was all about when I started as a sophomore and when I came in at the beginning it was really intimidating,” Hurd said. “As I came to tournaments and learned how the tournaments actually work it got a lot easier.”

“I think that it’s a really good way for people to express themselves,” she added. “It helps you build confidence within yourself. I think that’s a really good part about speech and debate, it helps people who may not be so confident in how they speak or their thoughts or what their opinions are.” 

Desert Hills High School junior and team captain Mason Wilson won the Region 10 Impromptu championship.

Impromptu competition involves getting a random topic that you have to give a speech about. You get seven minutes combined for preparation, research and the speech.

“My winning speech I prepared for about 15 seconds, then gave a speech for six minutes and 45 seconds on that,” Wilson said. “The less time you’re prepping and the more time you’re speaking, the more it shows your skills.”

Impromptu speaking is the most popular event, Wilson said.

“It’s the easiest event to learn, but the hardest to place in and be good at because everybody thinks they can do it,” he added. “I feel like any speech event is meant to be entertaining. I think that all the speech events are artistic, they’re just different kinds of being artistic.”  

Desert Hills students Sydney Losser (left) and Ava Graff (right) with their 1st place medals at the 4A state speech and debate tournament at Crimson Cliffs High School, Washington, Utah, March 12, 2022 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

Desert Hills teammates Ava Graff, a senior and team captain, and Sydney Losser, a junior, earned state champion medals in Policy debate. The duo are now regional and state champions and are national qualifiers.

The Policy topic this year was, “The United States federal government should increase its protections of water resources.” Competing duos argued both for and against.

“Honestly, it’s pretty surreal,” Losser said. “The fact that we’ve done so well, consistently, is incredible and I can’t believe it was on our own merits. It’s just crazy.” 

Graff said the Desert Hills team as a whole had a special year.

“Just the drive and the dedication I see from my teammates and the support we get from our amazing coach (Marla McPherson) is overwhelming,” Graff said. “There is such a support system and every tournament we leave with zero feelings of animosity.” 

Utah will be represented at the speech and debate national championship, as some of the 4A state champs are headed to Kentucky for the event this summer.

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