After the 2016-2017 debate season ended in August, the 157 student strong Westwood High School speech and debate team was ranked the tenth best in the nation, out of all the public and private high schools in the U.S. by the National Speech & Debate Association.
The team prepared for and attended over 40 local, district, regional, state, national and international tournaments and competitions. Team preparation centered around working collectively to achieve, foster and maintain a collaborative learning environment.
“Students across grade levels and in different competitive events mentored each other,” said Ruishi Wang, Westwood teacher and debate coach. “The best part was when a Westwood student was recognized at an awards ceremony, the most enthusiastic cheers and loudest applause came from the mentors, celebrating the achievements of their mentees.”
Adding to the season’s speech and debate program milestones, was Senior Saavan Nanavati’s claim of the Texas State Champion title at the Texas Forensic Association State Speech and Debate Tournament.
This season the team aims to maintain or even improve their national ranking.
“The students who are part of our Westwood and Round Rock ISD communities are so amazingly talented and remarkably gifted,” said Wang. “The students and parents are very proud of our national recognition, but we will always take the approach of continuous self-reflection with goal-oriented improvement.”
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Westwood Speech and Debate team members:
Agarwal, Aarya Ashish, Freshman
Albert, Geoffrey Ross, Sophomore
Ali, Sasha Atif, Freshman
Amodwala, Jugal Alkesh, Senior
Ashar, Anjali, Sophomore
Ballada, Sonia Ravi, Sophomore
Bandi, Vineeth Srisai, Junior
Bandlapalli, Neeharika, Senior
Baranga, Shreya, Freshman
Baxter, Elisa Marcel, Junior
Bhaskaran, Abhijay, Freshman
Bhaskaran, Avinash, Freshman
Billa, Saatvik Reddy, Freshman
Burugu, Vikas, Sophomore
Campanaro, Dominic Paul, Freshman
Cardenas, Clarissa Renee, Freshman
Carver, Zachary Paul, Freshman
Castel, Junna Anne, Sophomore
Chaudhry, Ayan, Freshman
Chen, Bernice, Sophomore
Chen, Grace, Sophomore
Chhotani, Divya, Sophomore
Cho, Joonhee, Senior
Choi, Alexander, Freshman
Chokhavatia, Anika A, Freshman
Cobert, Sophia, Freshman
Dartu, Maya Teodora, Sophomore
Dasgupta, Rishob Aditya, Sophomore
Deng, David Du, Freshman
Deshmukh, Samit Sachin, Sophomore
Dombrowski, Shea Li Na Molloy, Junior
Dubey, Shambhavi, Sophomore
Durham, Samuel John, Freshman
Enagala, Pooja, Junior
Freeman, Jefferson Patrick, Freshman
Freund, Mika, Freshman
Gandhi, Neal Dhiren, Sophomore
Gao, Emily, Junior
Govande, Janhavi Vinayak, Senior
Goyal, Ritik Purshottam, Senior
Greisdorf, Aaron Zachary, Junior
Grifno, Abigail Rachel, Senior
Gudlavalleti, Jitendra Kamalesh, Senior
Gunwani, Arnav Manoj, Freshman
Hardin, Conleigh Grace, Freshman
Hatcher, Shawn Andrew Pai, Freshman
Iyer, Kris Nathan, Junior
Jandhyala, Harsha, Junior
Jia, Caroline, Freshman
Kabir, Shawkin Afnan, Freshman
Kalakanis, Evangeline Elise, Freshman
Kamal, Sneha, Freshman
Kannan, Srishti, Freshman
Karnam, Nikhil, Sophomore
Kasam, Sai Pranith, Freshman
Keeranoor, Akhila, Sophomore
Kehl, Anthony Sandish, Sophomore
Kipperman, Savannah Rose, Freshman
Kolli, Pranavi Shrilakshmi, Freshman
Koneru, Sindhoora, Sophomore
Kore, Sarthak Anilkumar, Freshman
Kota, Mahir Reddy, Sophomore
Krishna, Esha, Freshman
Kulkarni, Pranav Anand, Sophomore
Kumar, Ananth, Sophomore
Kuttanna, Nishka, Freshman
Lai, Frank Z, Sophomore
Lai, Richard Tiger, Junior
Larrouilh, Clementine, Sophomore
Lauffer, Annika Brit, Freshman
Le, Collin Khoi, Freshman
Le, Davina Minh, Sophomore
Le, Truman Trong, Junior
Lee, Alex, Sophomore
Lee, Francis Allen, Freshman
Lee, Joeun, Freshman
Lele, Mohit Shriram, Freshman
Limbachiya, Yatha Nilay, Senior
Lin, Andrew Liang, Sophomore
Liu, Hannah Xinyi, Freshman
Liu, Yiran, Freshman
Lopez, Katya Rose, Sophomore
Lu, Alex Si Yan, Freshman
Ma, Maoyuan, Freshman
Mambapoor, Dhruva, Senior
Mandavilli, Rohith, Senior
Maram, Abiram Srinivas, Freshman
Marsden, Emma Joanne, Freshman
Miller, Sydney Pak, Freshman
Mirza, Ridha Fatima, Junior
Mohankumar, Sruti, Freshman
Mummaneni, Anurima, Sophomore
Myneni, Saavan, Sophomore
Nagji, Anika, Freshman
Narang, Ijay, Freshman
Neerukonda, Pratik, Freshman
Neidhart, Nathan Kyle, Freshman
Neralla, Madhuri, Junior
Nguyen, Anthony Quan, Senior
Nistala, Dhruv Vikram, Freshman
Page, Linette Carol, Junior
Pandit, Siddhant Sunil, Freshman
Patange, Rushil Rahul, Freshman
Pentam, Swedha, Sophomore
Pingale, Chinmay Mahendra, Junior
Pleuthner, Azra Fatima, Freshman
Pokkula, Nitisha, Freshman
Pokkula, Vivek, Senior
Pradhan, Sudiksha, Freshman
Prakash, Rithika, Senior
Rajamony, Gayatri Roy, Freshman
Rajesh, Harsha Ramya, Sophomore
Ramaswamy, Sruthi Mahima, Sophomore
Rane, Karan Nishikant, Sophomore
Reddy, Yashvi Chinthagunta, Sophomore
Rijal, Divyaj, Sophomore
Sadjadi, Daniel, Freshman
Shah, Mihir Bipin, Sophomore
Shah, Rishabh Ketan, Senior
Shah, Vani Pulin, Sophomore
Shaik, Rehana Sharief, Sophomore
Shamanna, Krithika Sharada, Senior
Shankar, Shreyush, Freshman
Shen, Anthony Ren, Freshman
Shen, Jack Ren, Senior
Shi, Daniel Tingfang, Sophomore
Singh, Anand, Freshman
Skawratananond, Shadt, Freshman
Skergan, Lawrence Thomas, Freshman
Skergan, Natasha Luu, Junior
Skevofilax, Maria Amanda, Freshman
Srinivasan, Pranav, Freshman
Srinivasan, Prathik Sekar, Junior
Stenson, Sonny James, Sophomore
Sun, Raymond Chen, Freshman
Sur, Risha, Freshman
Sze, Ryan Ho, Senior
Tehrani, Daniel Ali, Sophomore
Uppuluri, Anuja, Freshman
Uppuluri, Sindhuja, Sophomore
Velagapudi, Yash, Freshman
Velani, Daniel A, Sophomore
Vemula, Akshita, Freshman
Vijay, Shania, Sophomore
Vijayakumar, Tharun, Sophomore
Wang, Athena Josephine, Freshman
Wang, Carson Yude, Sophomore
Wang, Sophia Cao, Freshman
Wolf, Maximilien Stefan, Junior
Xiao, Justin Yao, Freshman
Yao, Andrew Yangting, Freshman
You, Jeffrey Felix, Sophomore
Yu, Qianjun, Freshman
Zeng, Aiden Huayi, Freshman
Zhang, Alice Chuyue, Sophomore
Zhang, Angela Weilin, Junior
Zhang, Steven Jun, Freshman
