Thirteen members of the Shady Side Academy Senior School Speech and Debate Team competed in the Pennsylvania High School Speech League (PHSSL) state tournament in Bloomsburg, Pa., on March 17-18, with one student winning a state title and two others placing in the top three in their events.

Junior Mathew Long placed first to win the PHSSL state title in Congress-Senate, while sophomore Sonia Kshirsagar placed second and was named "outstanding speaker" in Congress-House, and senior Nichole Poltinnikov placed third in Lincoln-Douglas Debate. 

Sophomore Audrey Jiang and junior Abby Ondos (Duo Interpretation), junior Gabe Feinstein (Impromptu), freshman Laurence Park (Lincoln-Douglas Debate), juniors Campbell Tucker-Hill and Deven Nahata (News Broadcasting), sophomores Maanya Goulatia and Ananda Minutolo (Parliamentary Debate), and juniors Hari Viswanathan and Andrew Zeng (Parliamentary Debate), also competed but did not advance to the final rounds in their events.

Congratulations to the students and to Speech and Debate Team coaches Dr. Mike Bowen and Mary Krauland!