September 2004 Newsletter

Click Masthead (above) for Pictures of the month

Message from the Czar:

This has been an exciting and triumphant time of year for the RMA Speech and Debate Team. We have competed in four different states and have logged nearly 1,500 miles already. We have selected ten top students to join our successful team and are currently polishing their first events and cross-training them in their secondary events. As we close out September and rush, headlong, into November, we start to hone the competitive edge of our team and start building the depth of our team in preparation for regular season competition and national competitions. For new students, we ask that they get a dark suit, preferrably black, and muted shirts or blouses. Conservative ties are also needed. We also ask that debaters get leather portfolios for competition, available in the school store. We also welcome our new assistant coach, Tanya Mulvey. A biography will be coming next month.

Vassar National LD Debate Round Robin

On September 10th, traveling to Poughkeepsie, New York, for the 2nd Annual Vassar College LD Debate Round Robin, the Debate Czar and LD Captain, Richard Marsh, competed against 13 other top debaters in the nation. Though we did not fare as well as we wanted, the debate allowed Richard experience with the resolution that soon translated into his stellar performance at Wake Forest the next week. The high-point of the competition, however, seemed breaking the hotel-routine and checking into a KOA campground and sharing a campsite with Martha Carr and Caitlin Halpern from Woodson High School.

Wake Forest Victories

On September 17th, traveling to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for the 27th Annual Wake Forest National Earlybird, RMA competed against 90 schools and over 500 competitors to rank 11th at the tournament and gain two finalists, two semifinalists, one quarterfinalist, and one octofinalist. Above and beyond, the best turn-out ever. Tropher Winners:
Richard Marsh, LD Debate Champion
James Taafel, Impromptu Finalist
David Tuck, Humorous Interp Semifinalist
Yuliya Orlova, Dramatic Interp Semifinalist
Harry Hixon, LD Debate Quarterfinalist
Spencer Dorsey, LD Debate Octofinalist
Not only did Wake Forest give us our first national tournament debate champion, but we also gained more breakers at this tournament than we ever have at Wake Forest. Competing for the first time at this tournament were not only Spencer Dorsey (amazing going to out-rounds at your first tournament), but Xander Fell and Christo Keshishian in Public Forum Debate, Alexanda Kysar in Dramatic Performance, David Cogswell and Louis Armstrong in Duo Interpretation, and Timothy Serrano in Impromptu Speaking.
Tournament MVP: Richard Marsh
Tournament Trouper: Sean Dunaway
A great tournament and a wonderful start for a new season.

NoVaFL PreSeason

On Wednesday, September 29th, RMA competed in the 1st Annual Northern Virginia Forensics League PreSeason Tournament. At this tournament, RMA competed against 10 other schools in the Northern Virginia Forensics League to take home the Sweepstakes Trophy with 65 sweepstakes points, compared to our nearest competitor, St. Stephen/ St. Agnes, with 26 points. Medalists:
1st: James Taafel, Foreign Extemp and Original Oratory
1st: SR Hilliard, Domestic Extemp
1st: Harry Hixon, JV LD Debate
1st: Tabi Allen, Declamation
2nd: Tabi Allen, Domestic Extemp
2nd: Robert E. Snitchler, Varsity LD Debate
2nd: Tea Flores-Kestner, Declamation
2nd: The Team of Kysar and Keshishian, PF Debate
2nd: Sean Dunaway, Foreign Extemp
3rd: Thom Cox, Foreign Extemp
4th: Sean Dunaway, Original Oratory
3rd: Christina Harper and Stephanie Kharrs, Declamation
4th: Justin Shipp, Student Congress
5th: SR Hilliard, Original Oratory
5th: Thom Cox, Impromptu
5th: D. Scot Kerns, Student Congress
Places 1-3 have gained a bid to the Virginia Tournament of Champions in May. Places 1-6 have gained a bid to the Northern Virginia Forensics League Tor Johnson Championship Tournament in January. A great victory and a great tournament.
Tournament MVP: James Taafel
Tournament Troupers: Kysar and Keshishian
Competing for the first time: David Frei, Christina Harper, and Stephanie Kharrs.

Yale Victories

On September 29th, traveling the eight hours to New Haven, Connecticut, for our fifth year at the Yale University National Forensics Classic, RMA followed-up our tremendous victories with even more victories at Yale. Of the 1,700 competitors and 100 schools, RMA advanced two to finals, one to semifinals, one to quarter finals, and two to double-octofinals. Trophy Winners:
Sean Dunaway, Finalist in Original Oratory
David Z. Tuck, Finalist in Humorous Interpretation
James Taafel, Semifinalist in Extemporaneous Speaking
Yuliya Orlova, Quarterfinalist in Dramatic Interpretation
Richard Marsh and Harry Hixon, Double-Octofinalists in LD Debate
Richard Marsh was the 14th Speaker at Yale in the JV Division of LD Debate.
In the past, RMA has made one or two breakers each year. This year, we did over-and-above that mark. A great tournament for which I am very proud.
Tournament MVP: Sean Dunaway
Tournament Trouper: Rachel Jacksonwho debated 10 rounds of PF and LD Debate -over seven and a half hours in the space of 28 hours.
How many times can I really say how proud and excited I am about this season?

Virginia Earlybird

On October 9th, at the 5th Annual Virginia Earlybird Tournament at Courtland High School in Spotsylvania, Virginia, RMA competed against 17 other schools to take home 2nd Place Sweepstakes in Lincoln-Douglas Debate, 1st Place Sweepstakes in Speech, and the Overall (5 foot tall) Sweepstakes Trophy. Though our most all of our seniors were taking the SAT, our underclassmen acquitted themselves very, very well at this first Virginia Invitational Tournament. Taking Championships:
Harry Hixon (4-0), Junior Varsity LD Debate
Thom Cox, Extemporaneous Speaking
Rachel Jackson, Declamation
SR Hilliard, Original Oratory
Yuliya Orlova, Dramatic Performance
Yuliya Orlova, Dramatic Performance
Also taking home trophies from this competition:
2nd : SR Hilliard (Extemp)
2nd : Tabi Allen (Declamation)
2nd : Justin Shipp (Prose, Storytelling)
3rd : Tabi Allen (Extemp)
3rd : Courtney Nemecek
3rd : The Team of Lance Trimm and Courtney Nemecek (Duo)
3rd : Kevin Frei (LD Debate Novice)
4th : The Team of David Cogswell and Louis Armstrong (Duo)
4th : Stephanie Kharrs (Declamation)
4th: Thom Cox (Impromptu)
MVP: Yuliya Orlova
Trouper: Courtney Nemecek
Competing for the first time: Ryan HarrisAll in all, a very successful tournament and something for our underclassmen to be very proud of for themselves.

Team Captaincies Announced

As is our practice, after three major tournaments, we select the captains of the Speech and Debate Team for the upcoming season. Unlike other team captaincies, these positions are not honorary, but are quite functional and put the students in the same responsibilities held by assistant coaches on other forensics teams.
Extemp Captain: Tabi Allen
Extemp UnderBoss: SR Hilliard
Expository Captain: James Taafel
Interpretation Captain: David Z. Tuck
Interpretation UnderBoss: Yuliya Orlova
LD Debate Captain: Richard Marsh
LD UnderBoss: Robert E. Snitchler
PF Debate Captain: Yuliya Orlova
Captain of Operations: Sean Dunaway
Operations UnderBoss: Justin Shipp
Male Road Captain: Chris Cole
Female Road Captain: Rachel Jackson
These captains have responsibilities each practice, each time we load or unload, every time we check into hotels, and on the tournament site, itself. Congratulations to these captains and we look forward to an excellent year.

Franklin-Grady Literary and Debating Society Officers Announced

Randolph-Macon Academy’s Franklin-Grady Literary and Debating Society of 1901, Virginia’s oldest high school debate society, acts as the support- and logistical-arm of Randolph-Macon Academy’s Speech and Debate Team. Membership is based on active competition in RMA Speech and Debate. Full membership is based on based on gaining at least National Forensics League (NFL) membership of 25 NFL points. On Monday, October 11th, the membership of the Franklin-Grady voted for officers for the 2004-05 school year. Unlike other honor societies, each office has a specific team-related task in order to keep RMA’s winning speech and debate still winning. Also unlike other honor societies, the Franklin-Grady Literary and Debating Society weighs each person’s vote, based on their NFL points. Like electoral points in the upcoming Presidential Election, each student has so many NFL points accrued. For example, our point-leader James Taafel holds 1,392 points, while our newest full member, Alexandra Kysar, holds 57 NFL Points. As the Coach, I hold 2,675 NFL Coaching Points (one-tenth of the 26,750 NFL points gleaned in the last eight years of coaching). After the vote count and the audit, these are the results and the docket of officers for the 103rd year of the Franklin-Grady Literary and Debating Society:

Tabi Allen, President. The President is appointed by the Czar based on the previous year’s winner of the Captain Award. The President sets the agenda for the Monday afternoon meetings and chairs those meetings.

Justin Shipp, Vice President. The Vice President is voted on by the active members of the Franklin-Grady Literary and Debating Society based on each member’s NFL points. The Vice President is responsible for ballot sorting and synthesis, as well as maintaining all ballot files on each competitor. When the President is unable to chair meetings, the Vice President will chair meetings.

SR Hilliard, Secretary. The Secretary is voted on by the active members of the Franklin-Grady Literary and Debating Society based on each member’s NFL points. The Secretary is responsible for preparing full reports for the newsletter following each tournament.

Sean Dunaway, Treasurer. The Treasurer is voted on by the active members of the Franklin-Grady Literary and Debating Society based on each member’s NFL points. The Treasurer is responsible for maintaining current NFL points for each member at each tournament. The Treasurer is also responsible for maintaining the roll for each practice.

The Magnificent Seven

(Top Point Leaders in the 2004-05 Season)

1st: Richard Marsh, 127 pts.

2nd: Harry Hixon, 123 pts.

3rd (tie): SR Hilliard and Yuliya Orlova, 112 pts.

5th: Tabi Allen, 108 pts.

6th: Rachel Jackson, 104 pts.

7th: Thom Cox, 86 pts.

Students Gaining New NFL Degrees in September:

The following students have accrued enough NFL Speaking Points in September to gain a new degree in the National Forensics League. Each debate victory is worth 6 points, each loss 3 points. Each speech interpretation 1st rank in a round is worth 5 points, each 2nd place rank is worth 4 points and so on. Each original speech (oratory and extemporaneous) is worth 6 points for a 1st and so on.

Richard Marsh, advancing to Double Ruby, 502 pts.
Spencer Dorsey, advancing past Key to Emerald, 75 pts.
Xander Fell, gaining Key Membership, 60 pts.
Alexandra Kysar, gaining Key Membership, 57 pts.
Kevin Frei, gaining Key Membership, 48 pts.
Christo Keshishian, gaining Junior NFL Membership.

This means that 6 new degrees have been added to our total of 124 points. Our goal is to gain 200 degrees by the end of the year.