Academy Forensic Team
Mauldin HS Debate Tournament — Nov. 14
Bob Jones Academy Debate nearly sweeps debate awards at Mauldin Tournament
Saturday, November 14th, 33 members of the Academy debate team competed at the Mauldin HS Debate Tournament. 6 of the top 7 novice debaters were from Bob Jones. The following students were declared Champions:
Stephen Lovegrove in Original Oratory
Micah Sherer & Meredith Bryson in Novice Lincoln Douglas Debate were declared co-Champions with perfect 4-0 records
Jackie Olinger & Valerie Myers tied for 1st Place in Novice Public Forum Debate (and lost the tie-breaker)
Additionally the team won 12 other awards and were the Third Place Overall sweepstakes Champions.
Other award winners
Amanda Ross 2nd place Novice LD
Stephen Eastland 3rd Place Novice LD
Caleb McQuaid 5th Place Novice LD
Jacob Kuruvilla 6th Place Novice LD
Taylor Garlock 4th Place Novice Reading
Anna Vallier 5th Place Novice Reading
Emma Galloway 4th Place in Dramatic Interp.
Ben Nicholas 4th in Oral Interp and 5th in Duo Interp with Elena Taylor. Elena also won 3rd in Storytelling
Skylor Hoffman won 5th in Storytelling
Morristown West Cougar Classic Invitational — Nov. 7
On Saturday, November 7, the Academy Forensic Team competed against schools in Tennessee at the Morristown West Cougar Classic Invitational. The following students made it to final rounds in their various events and trophied:
Stephen Lovegrove and Margaret Stegall in Original Oratory
Skylor Hoffman and Benjamin Nicholas in Prose Interpretation
Ethan Ballentine and Nichole Martinson in Extemporaneous Speaking
Jackie Olinger and Valerie Myers in Public Forum Debate
Carolina HS Tournament — Oct. 3
Saturday, October 3, 15 members of the Bob Jones Academy Forensic team competed at Carolina HS in a Debate Tournament. 9 public and private high schools from across the state competed. The following students won awards:
Will Willis won 1st place in Novice Debate
Amanda Ross won 2nd place in Novice Debate
Valerie Myers won 1st place in Varsity Debate
Chandler Garlock won 1st Place in Novice Oratory
Margaret Stegall won 2nd place in Novice Oratory
Stephen Lovegrove won 1st place in Varsity Impromptu and 2nd place in Varsity Oratory
Anna Vallier won 2nd in Novice Humorous Interpretation
Additionally the team won the Overall Percentage Sweepstakes Award.
Other Award winners were:
Emma Galloway 3rd in Varsity Dramatic Interp.
Lydia Pettersen 5th in Varsity Oratory
Taylor Garlock 4th in Novice Oral Interp.
Meredith Bryson 5th in Novice Debate
Pinecrest HS Debate Tournament — Sept. 26
Saturday, September 26th the Academy Forensic team traveled to Pinehurst, NC to compete at the Pinecrest HS Debate Tournament. Competing against 27 schools from North and South Carolina the Academy team captured the overall First Place Sweepstakes Trophy. The following students won top awards:
Stephen Eastland in Oral Interpretation won 1st place
Stephen Lovegrove in Impromptu Speaking won 2nd place
Benjamin Nicholas and Elena Taylor in Duo Interpretation won 2nd place
Other Awards
Stefanie Nifenecler 3rd place in OI
Benjamin Nicholas 4th place in OI
Elena Taylor 5th in OI
Taylor Garlock 6th in OI
Emma Galloway 5th Place in Dramatic Interpretation
Katie Mac Donald 3rd in OO
Stephen Lovegrove 5th in OO
Stefanie Nifenecker 4th in Novice LD
Jacob Kuruvilla 5th in Novice LD
Drew Peterson, Stephen Eastland, and Robert Ryggs went 3-1 in Novice LD.
National Forensic League National Speech and Debate Tournament — June 2009
Jonathan Ludwig (2009 BJA graduate), Alicha Grubb (2009 graduate), and Stephen Lovegrove (current BJA junior) qualified in March to represent South Carolina in Lincoln-Douglas Debate and Extemporaneous Speaking respectively. Jon Ludwig advanced through nine rounds of debate to be in the top 50 in the nation (over 2400 debaters vied for national ranking). Jon's top 50 finish is the best finish for a South Carolina student in Lincoln-Douglas debate in over ten years, and it is the best finish ever for a BJA student in this category. Stephen Lovegrove competed with over 500 students in Impromptu Speaking. Stephen made it to quarter finals making him one of the top 30 impromptu speakers in the nation.
Mr. Nicholas received his Fifth Distinguished Service Award making him one of only 10 in the nation who has earned this award. Mrs. Nicholas received her Fourth Distinguished Service Award making her one of only thirteen in the nation to be recognized for service