After successfully taking out other debate teams at the Santa Clara University Invitational tournament, Paly’s Speech and Debate Society claimed first place at the College Preparatory School Invitational tournament at the novice level on Dec. 22-23.

Contestants debated the topic of whether it is just for the United States to use military force to prevent the acquisition of nuclear weapons by nations that pose a military threat.

Paly sophomore Avi Arfin won the novice division and secured the position as first place speaker. Paly nearly closed out the tournament with fellow teammate sophomore Jujhaar Singh, whose fourth place finish earned him a spot at the semi-final round. Although still relatively new to debate, Arfin defied all odds against him and claimed first place.

“I only started debate a couple months ago, but I’ve really gotten into it,” Arfin said. “I love the activity, and I really think I get so much out of it. CPS was a really fun tournament. The attitude was really laid-back compared to a lot of other tournaments, so it was really fun, but at the same time, it was still a tournament and it was cool to have that much competition.”

Arfin persevered to excel at the tournament and experienced exhilaration after each successful round.

“CPS was an amazing experience,” Arfin said. “Going in, I knew I had a chance to do well, but I didn’t think I’d even come close to winning the tournament. As the rounds went on, I just kept getting more and more excited, and every round I thought that was going to be it. After the final round, when the judges announced the decision, I was so excited. My dad was there and got to watch the round, so after I was handed the trophy, he came up and gave me a big hug. CPS was the first tournament I really worked hard myself for and I think that contributed to my excitement as well.

Newcomers freshmen Rui Shu and Michelle Chung impressed the judges, with Shu qualifying for quarterfinals and Chung winning 9th place speaker.

Varsity teammates junior Jackie Rossiter and senior Rahul Ramakrishnan both cleared to the next elimination rounds. Rossiter cleared to partial double-octafinals, while Ramakrishnan won eighth place speaker and qualified to the semi-finals. Rossiter has gone undefeated in several tournaments, and Ramakrishnan qualified for the Tournament of Champions the previous year.

“It was a great success for the team on several levels,” Rossiter said. “It was really big for Avi Arfin to win the overall tournament, and we had several top speakers. We also had Rahul make it to the semi-finals.

Rossiter gave personal insight on her qualification to the elimination round.

“Personally, I’ve never made it so far on a national circuit tournament,” Rossiter said. “Qualifying to elimination rounds was a new and interesting experience, in the sense that people watch your rounds, instead of the other way around.”

The team has already traveled to large tournaments hosted in New York, Texas, Minnesota, and Illinois and has recently participated in the tournament of Victory Briefs Institute in Los Angeles last weekend.

Editor’s Note: Although Seung-Yeon Choi participated at the tournament with the team, she did not take any part in the elimination rounds.