Loyola Speech & Debate Defends State Title

After a hard-fought battle on Saturday, March 24, at Towson High School, Loyola Blakefield Speech & Debate successfully defended the state championship. The team emerged with a decisive win in the Speech Sweepstakes and first place in the Overall Team Sweepstakes.

Loyola finished with four out of the top five duo interpretation teams and swept the individual sweepstakes (Triathlon) awards. This marks the first time a single school has swept the individual sweepstakes awards for the entire season. Will LaMoure '19 tied the tournament record with championships in four separate main events (a record set by Adam Conner ’10 in 2009). Will is the first student to do this with a combination of public address events and interpretation events. If he were his own school, he would have finished in fourth place overall!

Please congratulate the following students for their award-winning presentations:

Rob Vail '18
3rd Place in Congressional Debate

Top Presiding Officer Award in Congressional Debate

5th Place in Congressional Debate

5th Place in Duo Interpretation

4th Place in Duo Interpretation

Zach Durkin '20 & Marlo Lacson '20
3rd Place in Duo Interpretation

Will LaMoure '19 & Jon Pejo '18
Champions in Duo Interpretation

5th Place in Oral Interpretation of Literature

Marlo Lacson '20
Champion in Oral Interpretation of Literature
2nd Place in Individual Sweepstakes (Triathlon)

Joey Ghirardelli '19
5th Place in Dramatic Performance
3rd Place in Extemporaneous Speaking
3rd Place in Individual Sweepstakes (Traithlon)

Zach Durkin '20
3rd Place in Dramatic Performance

Will LaMoure '19
Champion in Dramatic Performance
Champion in Extemporaneous Speaking
Champion in Impromptu Speaking
Champion in Individual Sweepstakes (Triathlon)

Jacob Shomali '18
6th Place in Extemporaneous Speaking

Jon Pejo '18
4th Place in Children’s Literature
3rd Place in Impromptu Speaking

All of the above students have qualified to represent the Archdiocese of Baltimore at the National Catholic Forensic League Grand National Tournament in Washington, DC, over Memorial Day weekend.

"The team would like to thank the Loyola administration for their unwavering support," said Head Coach Charles Donovan. "We are also grateful to all of our parents and alumni who judged for us, or who came to the awards ceremony to cheer us on. It was a memorable day overall. Roll, Dons, Roll!"