Several members of Mars Area High School Speech & Debate Team competed in the Seton LaSalle High School Novice Tournament, held on Oct. 28.

Freshman Kaya Gillespie earned first place in the Dramatic Performance category; freshman Grace Nam took fourth place in her chamber in Congressional Debate; and, sophomore Zoe Passarelli received fifth place in Lincoln-Douglas Debate. 

In addition, sophomore Naveen Jayaraman competed in Congressional Debate and freshman Ava Moravek in Poetry. And, seniors Adam Julian, Lauren Karg and Miles Stoops assisted as judges.

Sophomore Aubree Machi also participated in the event. For more information, call (724) 625-1581.

2022-2023

2023 PHSSL State Competition

Three members of Mars Area High School Speech & Debate Team placed at the 2023 Pennsylvania High School Speech League (PHSSL) State Competition, held March 17-18 at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania.

Seniors Avery Beller and Cole Winstead took fourth place in the News Broadcasting category. Junior Lauren Karg received seventh place in the Prose category.

For more information, visit https://www.phssl.org/states/.

Mars Area High School Speech & Debate Pre-Qualifier Invitational 

Several members of the Mars Area High School Speech & Debate competed in a Pre-Qualifier Invitational, hosted by the school on Feb. 18.

Junior Adam Julian earned first place in Impromptu Speaking. Other participating students included juniors Declan Abbey, Vivek Dadi and Miles Stoops in Impromptu Speaking; freshmen Samantha Knieriem, Isabel Radens and Julian Coquelet in Congressional Debate; and freshman Grace McMichael in Poetry

Also of note, senior Cole Winstead and juniors Lauren Karg and Isabela Montes facilitated the tournament. For more information, call (724) 625-1581.

Hampton Talbot Speech & Debate Tournament

Mars Area High School junior Lauren Karg competed in the Hampton Talbot Speech & Debate Tournament, held Feb. 4.

Karg earned first place in the Prose event and qualified for the 2023 Pennsylvania High School Speech League State Competition, to be held March 17-18.

 The qualifying tournament brought together 231 individual competitors representing 20 schools. For more information, call (724) 625-1581.

North Catholic Speech & Debate Invitational

Several members of Mars Area High School’s Speech & Debate Team competed in the North Catholic Speech & Debate Invitational, held Dec. 10.

Senior Cole Winstead earned second place and senior Avery Beller took third place in their respective chambers of congressional debate. Freshmen Julian Coquelet, Samantha Knieriem and Isabel Radens also competed in congressional debate events.

Sophomore Kira Frederick received third place in the informative speech event. And, juniors Adam Julian and Miles Stoops competed in impromptu speech.

The tournament welcomed 253 students from 27 schools to compete in 15 different events. For more information, call (724) 625-1581.