St. Luke’s Speech & Debate Starts the Year Strong

St. Luke's Speech & Debate started the year with impressive performances at three national circuit tournaments: the University of Kentucky Season Opener, the Mid America Cup, and the Yale Invitational.

Samantha Gerber ’25 and Dash Gilrain-Lennon ’25 advanced to elimination rounds in all three tournaments. They reached the Round of 32 to earn their first bid to the J.W. Patterson Tournament of Champions (TOC) in April. En route to the bid, Samantha and Dash defeated teams from Alliance Academy in Georgia, Princeton High School in New Jersey, and the reigning TOC champions from Durham Academy in North Carolina.  

Maeve Welch ’26 and Salman Memon ’26 also reached elimination rounds at Yale, progressing to the Round of 64. Chris Briggs ’24 impressed at Yale as well, earning a 3-3 record with wins against Stuyvesant High School and Newark Tech — without a partner. 

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In October, students competed at the Georgetown Invitational at Georgetown University and New York City Invitational, which was held at the Bronx High School of Science in New York City. At Georgetown, Samantha and Dash reached the round of 32, and Maeve and Salman reached the round of 16. At Bronx Science, Samantha and Dash reached the round of 32, earning their second bid to the TOC. While Maeve and Salman did not reach elimination rounds, Maeve earned a speaker award, ranking 12th out of 332 speakers. 

As of October 16, out of the 697 National Debate Coaches Association teams nationwide, Samantha and Dash hold the #11 ranking, and Maeve and Salman are #31.