Solon High School’s Speech and Debate team once again made it to the State Championship, aiming to defend their title from last year. In the 2023-2024 season, 49 students from Solon High School made it to States. The team returned home after placing second overall, out of eighty-nine competitors, with a final score of 579.16.

23 Solon students placed in various categories, including two-Person Policy Debate, Congressional Debate,
Declamation, Informative Speaking, International Extemporaneous Speaking, Public Forum, Program Oral Interpretation, Original Oratory, United States Extemporaneous Speaking and The Lincoln Douglas Debate. Julia Wang and Luke Kim both won the state championship in Public Forum.

While the preparation for each event varies, students and coaches alike were optimistic that Solon would rank among the top competitors. Following the competition, 10 Solon students are progressing to the 2024 National Qualifiers, which takes place in June.

Matt Hill, the Speech and Debate assistant coach, believes the dedication and focus of the students is what makes the team successful.

“We prepare together as a team through practices twice a week,” Hill said. “And then there is a large amount of preparation that is just done individually, at home on their own.”

Sophomore Maahi Bandi, who is one of the many who traveled to states, prepared for this big event far in advance.

“There are many events in Speech and Debate, and prep varies for each one,” Bandi said. “I personally compete in a Speech event, so I prepare a 10 minute speech that I keep working on throughout the season.”

Bandi also points out that coaches have a huge role in their season long success as well.

“We’d be nowhere without our amazing coaches, who spend tenfold the amount of time coaching everyone individually, mapping out tournament logistics and separately monitoring each event’s practices.”

Sophomore Noah Prample, who also competed at states, pointed out that the students also put in a lot of work.

“A lot of the people on the team care about what they’re doing, and work really hard to place at every tournament.”

He also placed 28 out of 64 other competitors.

“I’m really happy with how I did,” Prample said. “I was really close to making it to quarterfinals…..My favorite part of competing was definitely meeting a lot of people from around Ohio.”

Despite not winning first place, Maahi Bandi feels that the team did their best.

“I know many of us are disappointed that we weren’t able to defend last year’s championship,” Bandi said after the event. “However, placing second out of 89 teams is still amazing, and it could never have been done without an insane amount of time and effort from coaches and students alike.”

Bandi celebrated her teammates and their performances throughout the competition, as she is happy with how Solon’s season ended.