San Marino High School recently announced that 21 students qualified for the California State speech and debate championship, which was held in Culver City.
“This has been an amazing year, especially when you consider all that these kids have been through during quarantine,” said Matt Slimp, SMHS’ speech and debate coach. “These kids are absolutely dedicated and amazing to be able to pull this off. This has traditionally been this school’s most successful program and this year is exceptional even by our standards.”
Qualifying from SMHS were Lauren Lim, senior, duo interpretation; Faith Thai, senior, duo interpretation; Brandon Hang, senior, duo interpretation; Jayden Vien, senior, duo Interpretation; Elaina Lee, senior, Expository Speaking; Nicholas Luu, junior, Humorous interpretation; Taylor Tan, sophomore, humorous interpretation; Ethan Wang, junior, international extemporaneous speaking; Geoffrey Foong, freshman, international extemporaneous speaking; Joshua Yue, junior, national extemporaneous speaking; Berwyn Phan, junior, original advocacy; Anika Kesavalu, senior, original advocacy; Brandon Lee, sophomore, policy debate; Celine Chih, sophomore, policy debate; Caroline Louie, sophomore, policy debate; Timmy Jin, junior, policy debate; J.T. Liao, junior, policy debate; Marco Repetto, senior, policy debate; Sean Killackey, sophomore, policy debate; Chi Zhang, junior, policy debate; and Paris Chan, a junior, dramatic interpretation.
SMHS also has 13 students who qualify for the National Championships, to be held in June in Louisville, Kentucky.
Qualifiers include Elaina Lee, senior, informative speaking; Lauren Lim, senior, duo interpretation; Faith Thai, senior, duo interpretation; Sean Killackey, sophomore, “Big Questions” debate; Chi Zhang, junior, “World Schools” debate; J.T. Liao, junior, policy debate; Davis Liang, freshman, policy debate; Caroline Louie, sophomore, policy debate; Timmy Jin, junior, policy debate; Nicholas Luu, junior, prose; Nicholas Chua, sophomore, prose; Rahil Siddiqi, junior, United States extemporaneous speaking; and Ethan Wang, junior, international extemporaneous speaking.
