Scarsdale Speech and Debate Team Excels at National Championship in Salt Lake City

Scarsdale students set new records at the NSDA National High School Speech and Debate Championship tournament in Salt Lake City from June 12-17. The tournament brought together over 5,000 of the top speech and debate students representing high schools from all fifty states, as well as some international students. Students must pre-qualify to participate in the championship. Scarsdale High School sent a squad of seven students to represent the Hudson Valley region in the tournament. It was a record setting event for Scarsdale in several aspects.

First, Scarsdale High School senior Justin Cooper, a two-time NY state champion, became the first Scarsdale student to reach the final round at nationals since 2011. He also is the first student in Scarsdale history to reach the final round in his event (original oratory). After 13 rounds of competition and from a pool of 256 elite competitors, Cooper placed third in the nation in original oratory (winning a trophy and a $750 college scholarship). He also garnered first place in the final round of competition, winning the President's Bowl award and a $250 scholarship. Cooper finished his career at Scarsdale High School as the "winningest" speech and debate student in Scarsdale history, surpassing the former record-holder by nearly 800 NSDA points (points are accumulated during a student's high school career and are awarded based on success at tournaments).

In addition, Scarsdale won a "School of Excellence" award for the first time ever. This award is given to the top 20 schools in total speech points at the national tournament. Two Scarsdale students, juniors Zach Kapner and Keshav Rastogi, were quarterfinalists in extemporaneous speaking (top 30), and senior Daniel Altabet was an octofinalist in original oratory (top 60). Their tournament points, along with Cooper's, combined for the team award. In addition, sophomore Arjun Ravi was a semifinalist in extemp commentary, and sophomores Zoe Landless and Ismail Ameen represented Scarsdale High School as well. Coach Joe Vaughan accompanied the team for the competition.