News: Local Students Capture State Titles at VHSL State Tournament

(April 27, 2012) - Loudoun County Public Schools students brought home state titles at the 2011-12 VHSL State Debate Tournament held at Liberty University in Lynchburg. Dominion High School finished runner-up to Harrisonburg in the AA team competition with Briar Woods tied for fourth. Broad Run, which had dominated AA with 13 state titles, moved up to AAA this year and finished runner-up to Lake Braddock.


Grabbing state titles from Loudoun:
*Michael Holohan and Boyd Qu (Briar Woods) - AA Policy
*Michael Holohan (Briar Woods) - AA Speaker (Policy)
*Nick Lepp and Chetan Mishra (Broad Run) - AAA Policy
*Ryan Cooper (Broad Run) - AAA Speaker (Policy)

In addition, A.K. Komanduri of Dominion took first in AA at the 2011-12 Student Congress with teammate Jay Daniel Gusman runner-up. Freedom's Victor Hammarin was voted one of the two Outstanding Senators in AAA, while Komanduri and Bobby McCurdy of Loudoun County took the honors for AA Outstanding Senators.

2011-12 VHSL STATE DEBATE TOURNAMENT RESULTS POLICY
First
BRIAR WOODS
Michael Holohan
Boyd Qu

Second
HARRISONBURG
Aubtin Heydari
Neil Mehta

Semifinalist
GRAFTON
Liam Canty
Matthew Hain

Semifinalist
HARRISONBURG
Samantha Heitsch
Howard Zho

PUBLIC FORUM
First
SMITHFIELD
Jessee Reon
Rachel Reon

Second
BLACKSBURG
Olivia Park
Antonio Trani

Semifinalist
HARRISONBURG
Lydia Hatfield
Michele Waligora

Semifinalist
RIVERHEADS
Jacob Cash
RP Kirtland

LINCOLN-DOUGLAS
Group A/AA
First – Ben Marks – Harrisonburg
Second – Jesse Burbank – Bruton
Semifinalist – Jason Li – Blacksburg
Semifinalist – Josh Theall – Smithfield

SPEAKER RESULTS
Group A Policy
First – Jarrett Donkle – Riverheads
Second – Hannah Harris – Riverheads

Group AA Policy
First – Michael Holohan – Briar Woods
Second – Boyd Qu – Briar Woods
Third – Liam Canty – Grafton

GROUP A TEAM RESULTS
First
Riverheads

Second
East Rockingham

Third
Stonewall Jackson-Quicksburg

Fourth
Wilson Memorial

GROUP AA TEAM RESULTS
First
Harrisonburg

Second
Dominion

Third
Smithfield

Fourth (tie)
Blacksburg
Briar Woods

Sixth
Bruton

Seventh
Fort Defiance

Eighth
Grafton 

2011-12 VHSL STATE DEBATE TOURNAMENT RESULTS GROUP
AAA POLICY
First
BROAD RUN
Nick Lepp
Chetan Mishra

Second
BROAD RUN
Ryan Cooper
Chad Vickers

Semifinalist
THOMAS JEFFERSON S & T
John Chae
Samuel Luo

Semifinalist
THOMAS JEFFERSON S & T
Rishi Khanna
Nick Kim

PUBLIC FORUM
First
JAMES MADISON
Sahar Neisi
Coco Torres

Second
BATTLEFIELD
Nick Bond
Hoyoung Lee

Semifinalist
FIRST COLONIAL
Ross Abbot
Ryan Deal

Semifinalst
HAYFIELD
Colby Dickinson
Erica Wes

LINCOLN-DOUGLAS
 First – Katelyn Sheehan – Lake Braddock
 Second – Venu Katta – Clover Hill
 Semifinalist – Ellie Miller – Great Bridge
 Semifinalist – Joshua Tarbet – Riverbend

SPEAKER RESULTS
Policy
First – Ryan Cooper – Broad Run
Second – Nick Kim – Thomas Jefferson S & T
Third – Chetan Mishra – Broad Run

TEAM RESULTS
First
Lake Braddock

Second
Broad Run

Third
James Madison

Fourth (tie)
Battlefield
Clover Hill
Princess Anne

Seventh
Thomas Jefferson S & T

Eighth
North Stafford

2011-12 VHSL STUDENT CONGRESS RESULTS
GROUP A
First Kelsey Morris – Riverheads
Second Kayla Ackleson – Riverheads 
Third Hunter Bowers – Stonewall Jackson-Quicksburg 
Fourth Katie Feerst – Wilson Memorial

Outstanding Senator: Chris Kayla Ackleson – Riverheads

GROUP AA
First A. K. Komanduri – Dominion
Second Jay Daniel Gusman – Dominion
Third Lauren Tabor – Fort Defiance
Fourth Bobby McCurdy – Loudoun County

Outstanding Senators: A. K. Komanduri – Dominion and Bobby McCurdy – Loudoun County 

GROUP AAA
First Josh Wartel – Lake Braddock
Second Austin Chambers – Princess Anne
Third Mouad Rais – North Stafford
Fourth Chris Yang – Massaponax

Outstanding Senators: Viktor Hammarin – Freedom-South Riding and Austin Chambers – Princess Anne