Two pairs from the varsity debate team competed in the Billy Tate Southern Bell Forum tournament in Nashville, Tennessee, Jan. 6-8, with one pair doing especially well. 

The duo of Mahi Shah and Cyrus Esmailzadeh went 4-2 and lost in the octofinals, earning their fourth bid to the Tournament of Champions. Mahi was the 11th best speaker.

Connor Booth and Adam Cheema went 2-4 and did not progress out of the group stage.

Mahi, a junior, said focusing on her team’s communication during the debate rounds helped to make them effective. 

She said that good communication and talking about what was important to win the round led to some good successes against teams they thought, going in, were better.