Photo caption: Demitria Wack (left) and Payton Polanco (right)
Article by Tom Boroujeni
The Barking Bulldog Debate Team was supposed to attend The Robert Barbera Forensics Invitational tournament at CSU Northridge from October 11 to 13. Unfortunately, the Saddle Ridge Fire led to the closure of CSU Northridge campus and cancelation of the tournament.
From November 1 to 3, the Barking Bulldogs traveled to Long Beach to participate in the Fall at the Beach Invitational Forensics Tournament hosted by CSU Long Beach. Thirty-five teams participated in the tournament and as usual, our debater shined amongst them.
Demitria Wack and Payton Polanco won 5 out of their 6 debates in the preliminary stage and advanced to the quarter-finals, where they faced a four-win team from Southwestern College. In an upset, they lost on a very close 2-1 split decision. Peyton ranked 3rd and Demitria ranked 5th speakers in the Novice division. This was their third tournament ever. Congratulations to both Demitria Wack and Payton Polanco! We are very proud of you!
In the Varsity division we had Aaron Lowe and Aranveer Litt competing. Unfortunately, they closely missed advancing to the semi-final. They finished the tournament with 3-win-3-loss record, one round short of the record needed to advance to the outrounds. However, they were outstanding speakers. Aranveer ranked 5th and Aaron ranked 6th speakers in the Varsity division. Congratulations to both Aaron Lowe and Aranveer Litt!
I am very proud of each and every member of the Barking Bulldogs Debate Team. They are dedicated and work very hard to prepare for highly competitive tournaments. I would like to congratulate them on their achievements. They make us all proud.
As always, I would like to thank my incredible assistant debate coach, Primavera Leal Martinez, who helped me with coaching and administrative tasks.
This tournament was only possible by funding from the Associated Students Inc. (ASI), the College of Arts and Humanities, and the Communication Department. Our next tournaments are the California Swings in the Bay Area from January 3 to 5 and Jan 7 to 9.
The College of Arts and Humanities at Fresno State 