By Louinn Lota

Chaminade’s Speech & Debate Society team dominated the Tri-County Forensics League Novice Debate Tournament at Oaks Christian High School in Westlake Village on October 27. The team took first place wins in every category entered, and sometimes battled for a winning tie with fellow Eagle teams. No wonder their slogan, “Argue With Me At Your Own Risk,” holds true from year to year.

The PoFo team of Conner Hoyt ’15 and Dhishal Tennakoon ’15 took first place in Public Forum Debate; the two argued whether developed countries have a moral obligation to mitigate the effects of climate change . Brian Gilmartin ’16 took first in the Lincon-Douglas Debate, where he argued whether the United States should extend to non-citizens accused of terrorism, the same constitutional due process it gives U.S. citizens.

It was Chaminade versus Chaminade to a first-place tie in Policy Debate. The freshman team of Jeremy Marsh ’16 and Bhaskar Suri ’16 tied with the freshman-sophomore team of John Rider ’16 and Alonzo Rosado-Rivera ’15; they argued whether the U.S. federal government should substantially increase the nation’s transportation infrastructure. Rider took the tournament’s first-place trophy for earning the most points as top speaker.

In the meantime, Manmeet Grewal ’15 and Arbel Illya ’15 battled against Ashley Macalino ’15 and Rebecca Gerny ’16 for a second-place tie in Policy Debate.