The Central Valley is home to hundreds of debaters and dozens of schools, yet only one has managed to champion the Valley tournament for 12 years in a row: Stockdale High School. On February 8th, more than 75 teams competed across four events to qualify for the State Championships. Out of 20 spots, 8 were Stockdale’s to take. 

 

Yet it hasn’t been an easy feat. For Head Coach Crystal Huddleston, it’s been her 9th personal year of school sweepstakes victory. The school year started off busy, with trips to Cal State Long Beach, University of the Pacific, San Diego, Studio City, and 3 league tournaments in Kern County to run. The recipe for success and her own motivation is from her kids, as she says, “The student leaders are the key to our success. Especially during the three weeks leading up to the tournament, they are the driving force—coordinating practice & refining cases while helping their younger peers bring their best performance. Watching them work so hard keeps me inspired as a coach & allows a team this large to succeed!”  

 

To manage the over 100 debaters at Stockdale, Head Coach Huddleston had the aid of her Assistant Coaches Dawson Graves, a seasoned veteran in Public Forum debate, and Jonathan Pusavat, an expert in speech. Both Assistant Coaches put forth guidance, unyielding patience, and time to ensure all students were prepared for the upcoming tournament.  

 

The President of Stockdale Forensics, Citlali Clarke, taught over 15 students every week for the past 6 months. It took insatiable hunger and relentless work for a chance at a regional title, yet also teamwork. “Being a leader means that despite what’s going on during the tournament, you show up for your team. You’re no longer each other’s competition; you are each other’s greatest allies, and at the end of the day the goal is to bring home that trophy together.” Most of Ms. Clarke’s students were freshmen, new to the nebula of speech and debate. However, with her leadership, many of them quickly learned the skills of debate, swarming the finishing stands at local Kern County tournaments. 

 

The tournament encompassed many different kinds of events. The biggest event from Stockdale was the Public Forum debate, a 2 v 2 debate known for its Crossfire, a questioning period that gets heated in many rounds, which debated the topic “Resolved: The African Union should grant diplomatic recognition to the Republic of Somaliland as an independent state.” The topic changes every month, and students took several lectures on African affairs in preparation for February.  

 

Parliamentary debate, a debate form gaining popularity in Fresno, consists of 2 v 2 debate; however, with spontaneous topics prepared in 20 minutes. The debate requires a vast knowledge of current affairs and history; many students who were taught under Co-Captains Kai Kim and Tanav Doddapuneni required weeks of daily practice focused on constructing cases quickly. The final resolution was “This House prefers an authoritarian government to no government,” with a sweeping Stockdale victory.  

 

Policy, another 2 v 2 debate with a year-long topic and hour-long rounds, took on the role of researching evidence, coming up with plans, and finding intriguing arguments. Stockdale’s historically dominant team for Policy took 4 out of the 5 spots to the State Championships. 

 

In 3rd Place, Kai Kim and Tanav Doddapueni 

In 4th Place, Colin Park and Zachary Huynh 

In 5th Place, Kavon Khajvand and Ben Maberry 

In 1st Place, Caleb Im and Ina Trang 

In 3rd Place, Joy Yoon and Taytum Soundara 

In 4th Place, Ryan Jiang and Boston Mudge 

In 5th Place, Wenhao Jia and Zaim Hayat 

In 2nd Place, Priya Pabbathi and Citlali Clarke 

      

Valley debaters who fought for a top 5 finish will compete at the State tournament on May 2nd to the 4th in Culver City. The route to winning State championships is a hard one; thousands of debaters from each region’s best compete for the same spots. However, with Stockdale’s long legacy of success, there isn’t much doubt that the Mustangs will represent Kern County’s greatest at the State Championships through victory!