OHS Speech and Debate team competed in the Clayton Varsity Tournament against 35 schools from all over Missouri on Nov. 18.

In the regular division of public forum Gabriel Conners (12) and Sohrab Azad (12) took third and Preethi Tumati (11) and Maxine Taylor (10) took second.

“The team has been working really hard this year and it has definitely been paying off,” Tumati (11) said.

In the Champ division of public forum, Ryan Westwood (11) and Aaron Mohabbat (12) lost in the semifinals to a team ranked 10th in the nation. In speech events, Shaun Lamar (12) took fifth in Domestic Extemp, Conners (12) took fifth in Oral Interp, and Westwood took fourth in Congress.

The novice team competed at Ladue for a novice tournament against 31 schools on Nov. 19. Conner Jones (10) competed in the Lincoln Douglas debate against 68 other students and came in second place, showing promise for future debates. In poetry Harley Berggren (10) placed sixth and in Radio David O’Donnell ranked fifth overall.

The Speech and Debate team will be competing next at the Randy Pierce Winter Classic at Pattonville High School on Dec. 9 and 10.