Demons debate duo dominates division

The Dodge City High School debate duo of Anglelica Plata and Trinady Luangchai posted a spotless 4-0 record in the Field Kindley Virtual Debate Tournament held last Saturday.

The win gave the duo first place in the tourney and pushed the DCHS debaters overall to a seventh-place finish on the day.

According to DCHS debate coach Steve Ray, it was the season debut for the pair, who proved themselves the cream of the crop in the 24-team field of the junior varsity division.

Posting a near-perfect speaker score of five points, Luangchai led the way with Plata not far behind, posting nine speaker points.

Of the five debate duos, DCHS posted a combined 11-5 record finishing tied for sixth with Olathe, but after a tie-breaker was applied, the team came away at seventh out of 26 schools.

“This was our first time to compete in this meet, so we were not sure what to expect,” Ray said. “But we found out that once you get through the technical challenges of debating online rather than face to face, one meet is very much like all the others.”

The team of Christopher Montford and Hever Arjon finished with a 2-2 record on the day in the open division, but still finished 11th overall.

The team of Maria Cruz and Autumn Klein went 1-3.

In the novice division, two DCHS pairs went 2-2. The team of Alejandra Del Real and Leslie Galdamez earned 20th place with the duo of Xania Cobian and Vivian Nguyen finishing five slots behind.

“Because no one has to worry about travel expenses this year since all meets are virtual, you see a lot more teams than usual in every tournament,” Ray said. “That means that the field in more challenging and the debate styles are more diverse since every part of the state is represented.”

Next up the Demons Debaters will compete this weekend with a dozen debaters participating in the Spring Hill Virtual Meet on Saturday.

To contact the writer, email vmarshall@dodgeglobe.com.