Maranatha Speech & Debate Team Excels at the Jack Howe Invitational

On Saturday and Sunday, September 26-27, the Maranatha High School Speech and Debate team, led by faculty Patrick Mesisca ’92, competed in the Jack Howe Invitational at Cal State Long Beach. The tournament is recognized on the national speech and debate circuit as a top tier tournament featuring the best speech and debate teams from across the country.

Competing for Maranatha were Matt Harrington, Kendall Hollimon, Jordan Belcher, Nathan Stuart, Joel Lee, Tara Takenaka, Quinton Espinosa, and Cameron Chen for debate, and Daniella Shishoian, Benjamin Smith, Jane lee, and Gabe Espana for speech.

In the end, the Public Forum Debate duo of Matthew Harrington and Kendall Hollimon advanced to the quarterfinals and won 5th place overall with a score of 7 wins and 1 loss over 8 rounds and two days of intense debate competition.

The Maranatha debate team is currently preparing for the SCDL debate on November 20-21 at La Canada High School and the speech team is currently preparing for the SCDL speech tournament on December 12.

Maranatha High School, 169 S. St. John Avenue, Pasadena, (626) 817-4000 or visit www.maranatha-hs.org.