This past weekend the Jesuit Novice Debate Team traveled to Atlanta for the Novice National Debate Tournament. The Novice Debate Team (the name signifies only that they are first year debaters) consists of Freshmen James Abbott, Jackson Pyke, and Jeff Melsheimer and Sophomores Davis Bittner, Grant VanKirk, Justin Kang, Ryan Tan, and Shane McGoldrick.
Freshman Justin Rubenstein and Junior Harrison Ainsworth are also members of the team, but were unable to make the trip. The trip was highlighted by 3-3 records from the teams of McGoldrick and Pyke, and VanKirk and Melsheimer. The team was a little disappointed that they didn’t finish as well as they had hoped, but they still learned a lot and had fun. Ryan Tan, who finished 2-4 with partner Justin Kang, said, “I was able to push my debate career forward and meet people from around the nation. I had a great time! Aside from the debating, I really liked getting to hang out with everyone on the team and getting to know them better.” The team has one more tournament left in their novice year in May at St.Marks School in Dallas. They’ll be working hard this month so that they will have a better outcome then.
