District meet intense competition for local debate team
By Tara Lowery DHS Journalism Teacher

The competition at the National Forensic League, LBJ district meet, proved intense for members of the Diboll High School debate team. The squad traveled to Richardson last weekend to compete against students from 30 Texas schools for a chance to compete this summer in Nevada.

The highlight of the event for the Lumberjacks came when senior Esteban Gonzalez qualified as second alternate for the National competition. Gonzalez placed fourth in the final round of International Extemporaneous speaking.

The tournament was double elimination. Students who went undefeated were considered up, students who had one loss were down and after two losses, the teams were out.

DHS Lincoln-Douglas debaters Hank Odneal and Shelby Ricks went through three rounds of competition. Senior Cross-Examination teams, which consisted of Rachel Oates, Esteban Gonzalez, Daniel Guerrero and Ivan Meza, each went through seven rounds before elimination.

Members of the squad also competed in Student Congress. Kayla Martel, Ivan Meza, Daniel Guerrero, and Esteban Gonzalez participated in Congress, along with 120 other students from around the state.

Several team members tried out their acting skills by tackling Humorous and Dramatic Interpretation. Junior Shelby Ricks competed in two rounds of Humorous and Seniors Rachel Oates and Daniel Guerrero went two rounds in Dramatic.

Next stop for the squad is Austin, as the team consisting of Rachel Oates and Esteban Gonzalez compete for the state championship in CX debate.