Big Spring debaters mark 20th straight District qualification with sweep
Members of the Big
Spring High School Cross-examination Speech team continued a longstanding tradition by winning the UIL District 3-4A Team Crossexamination Debate title on Wednesday. Sweeping the top four positions, the team handily defeated a very tough Snyder contingent of teams.
Senior Peyton Woellert and junior Harper Duran did not lose a round,winning the outright district championship and qualifying for the UIL CX Debate State Meet. This marks the 17th year in a row in which a Big Spring team took first place in district competition.
“Every year is different,” Coach Jennifer Adams said “but the students this year really took the idea of defending our district title very seriously.”
This marks the second trip to a State Meet this year for the pair as they competed in, and made the finals at, the UIL Congress State Meet earlier in January.
Joining Woellert and Duran at the State Meet will be the sophomore team of Tyler Grove and Jack Hamby. “Going to State was our goal,” Hamby
said. “We worked hard to achieve that goal.”
In addition to the two state-advancing teams, BSHS took third place with junior Morgan Griffith and sophomore Avery Williams, and fourth place with junior Ananya Limaye and freshman Ashley Melendez. The placings give the Steer UIL Academic team a 44-point lead over Snyder high school.
“For most of these students, this is the first year that they have competed in CX Debate at District. We are super excited that we will have all but one of these debaters back next year.” Adams said. “This gives us a solid foundation to continue the Steer tradition of qualifying teams to State.”
The first- through third-place teams have also qualified for the Texas Forensic Association State tournaments by winning rounds and earning qualification points at tournaments throughout the fall.
The University Interscholastic League Cross-examination State Meet is the oldest UIL activity, and is held on the campus of the University of Texas in March. For the BSHS Speech and Debate team, this marks the 20th consecutive time to qualify for the CX State meet.