June 23 , 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:Megan Overman, Public Information Officer
Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District
817-251-5503

Grads end high school debate career with national championship

Evan Defilippis and James Hamraie, 2008 Colleyville Heritage High School graduates, earned first place and the title of national champions in Policy Debate at the National Forensic League National Speech and Debate Tournament June 15-20 in Las Vegas. Competing against 203 other teams from across the nation, the CHHS graduates defeated a team from New Trier Township High School in Illinois on an 11-4 decision.

Coach Dave Huston said, "These two young people are two of the best that I've coached. They work harder than any team I've coached and have met the challenges that have been thrown at them all year. This was the ninth final round in which they have appeared this year and their fifth win in those nine tries. I would be hard pressed to find another team that has had as much well deserved success. I am extremely proud of what they have accomplished this year."

Evan will attend the University of Oklahoma and James plans to attend Emory University in the fall. Both plan to continue their debate careers in college.

The tournament is the largest of the national tournaments and is the culmination of the year's competitions. Six main speech events, four types of debate competition, two consolation speech events and four supplemental speech events produce national champions at the end of an action-packed week of competition. Students qualify for the national event at the district level.