At the Harvard College Debating Union Season Opener, Chase Blumenfeld '27 earned the third-place speaker award. At the Yale Invitational, Pilar Morgan '28 and Cecelia Pascual '27 reached finals, narrowly missing the top spot on a split decision. The team of Gabriel Alexander '29 and Alexandra Tucker '29 won the novice division at the NYPDL September In-Person Invitational, while Laila Sene '28 and Astrid Lemons '28 were semifinalists in the online division of the same competition.

 

The strong results continued into October. At the National Parliamentary Debate League Fall Invitational, reigning national champions Austin Gordon '26 and Campbell Langdon '26 finished as semifinalists. At the NYPDL October Invitational, Michelle Jia '29 earned the top speaker award. Most recently, at the NYPDL November Invitational, the team of Sam Worthington and Ayan Marin '27 reached the semifinals, and Penelope Koehl '29 won the top speaker award, advancing to quarterfinals with partner Victoria Meyer '29.

 

The Dalton Middle School Debate Team has also launched its season with an exceptional performance at Fieldston School. Last weekend, fifty-three middle school students competed in the NYDL November Tournament. Dalton speakers won nine of the ten novice speaker awards and ten of the fifteen varsity speaker awards. In Novice, the team of Eden Klein '31, Charli Moffitt '31, and Ella Reifer '31 won second place, while Sophie Jackson '31, Michelle Jia '31, and Juliette Rothfeld '31 took first place as a team, with Maya Rana '31 earning first place as an individual speaker. In Varsity, Meher Jetley '30 won third place speaker, and Zach Kumar '30 finished second.

 

Both teams are demonstrating outstanding growth, skill, and momentum as the season continues. Congratulations to all!