U-High Forensics

04/18/2026

Hey everyone! Our annual Trivia Night is less than a week away! Please RSVP so that we know you're coming, even if you don't have all of your team details together yet!!

This is our BIGGEST fundraiser of the year. We hope to see you there!

Here is the signup form:

Hello everyone from the University HS Speech and Debate team! We are SO EXCITED to welcome you to our annual TRIVIA NIGHT and Silent Auction! Date: Friday April 24, 2026 Time: First Question will begin at 6:15 PM *Please show up by 6:00 to check your team in and decorate your table! Location: Univer...

03/22/2026

Congratulations to the UHigh Debate team who competed at the IDC Varsity State Debate Championship this weekend! We are so proud to announce that UHigh is the Varsity Public Forum Champion for the third year in a row! Special congratulations to Tim and Connor for winning the final round on a 4-1 decision!! The squad also brought home a variety of speaking awards and break rounds. Full results below:

Pro Con Debate Challenge
Quarterfinalist: Siya Jagani

Lincoln-Douglas All State Team
10th: Shreya Patel

Lincoln-Douglas
Octofinalist: Yelena Shang

Public Forum All State Team
7th: Tessa Reisinger
9th: Elaine Ding

Public Forum
Champions: Connor Duncan and Tim Park
Quarter finalists: Vi Nadiger and Hash Vinothasha
Quarter finalists: Elaine Ding & Tessa Reisinger

We always say that debate is a team activity, and these students never fail to show up for each other and remind us just how true that is. Their coaches are so overwhelmingly proud of their season, and for the seniors, their debate careers. Go U! 🙌 💚 💛

03/15/2026

The UHigh Debate team had a great day at JV/Novice Debate State! Congratulations to all who competed! Yelena Shang is the IDC JV State Lincoln-Douglas CHAMPION, and the tournament’s top speaker! Elaine Ding and Tessa Reisinger are the runners up in JV Public Forum, with Elaine earning 8th speaker and Tessa placing 4th! Finally, Amulya Kadiyala and Siya Jagani are tournament Octafinalists in the novice division. Congratulations, Pioneers!!

02/15/2026

Congratulations to the Pioneers, who qualified SIX EVENTS to the IHSA State Tournament! Special congratulations to Ellis Zimmerman, who won DI!

Sectionals is a tough day for so many of us, and it’s especially difficult when your team takes on the extra duty of hosting. These kids, whether final ranks went their way or not, were absolute rockstars all season, and especially this week. Their coaches are so, so proud. 💚💛

Thank you, too, to all of the parents, colleagues, coaches, students, and debaters who helped set up, tear down, time, sell concessions, provide hospitality lounges, etc. We are so grateful to you.

Final results below:
DI: 1st and advancing to State: Ellis Zimmerman
Extemp: 3rd and advancing to State: Disha Karthik
HDA: 4th: Katie Aitken and Henry Young
Info: 3rd and advancing to State: Mahi Ganta
DEC: 4th: Soumya Boyina
Oratory: 3rd and advancing to State: Lila Grace Bardwell
PIR: 6th: Lily, Brynn, Aditi, Audrey, Disha, Siri, Elaine, Luke, Tire, and Ana
Poetry: 6th: Suhn Kaeb
Prose: 5th: Ellis Zimmerman
Radio: 2nd and advancing to State: Will Miller
SOS: 3rd and advancing to State: Reith Kohli

02/11/2026

Congratulations to the Pioneer Speech Team for an amazing showing at Regionals! They won first place as a team, and advanced EVERY EVENT to this weekend’s Sectional tournament! Special congratulations go out to these tournament champions: Mahi Ganta (Info), Ellis Zimmerman (DI AND Prose), Katie Aitken (HDA AND HI) and Henry Young (HDA)! We have lots of kids not pictured here, so below is the full list!

Advancing entries include:
🎭 Dana & Ollie in DDA
🎭 Ellis in DI & Prose
📝 Disha K in EXT and IMP
🎭 Katie in HDA and HI
🎭 Henry in HDA
🗣️ Mahi in Info
🗣️ Soumya in DEC
🎭 Connor in OC
🗣️ Lila Grace in Oratory
📖 Suhn in Poetry
🎤 Will in Radio
🗣️ Reith in SOS
🎭 Lily, Brynn, Elaine, Luke, Disha R, Siri, Ana, Tire, Audrey, and Aditi in PIR

12/14/2025

Despite the storm, a portion of the speech team was able to compete at the Naperville Central Tournament of Roses! They had an AMAZING showing, including 9 finalists, 3 final champs, and one TOURNAMENT champion! Congratulations to all, including Lila Grace Bardwell who WON Original Oratory!

Special thanks to Lauren, Caroline, and Nick who came out to judge for us, and special special thanks to Ms. Cash, Mr. Rohman, and Mr. Aitken who drove through the storm. We are so grateful to you!

Full results:
Next-in Extemp
Dana 5th

Next in HDA
Katie and Henry 1st

Next in IMP
Ray 5th
Disha 9th

Info
Mahi 4th
Ollie 10th

Next in OO
Reith 2nd

OO
Lila Grace 1st

Prose
Ellis 3rd

12/08/2025

Congratulations to the Pioneer Speech team, who took home third place in the Large School Division at Bloomington High School this past weekend! Tournament Champions included Soumya Boyina in DEC, Mahi Ganta in INFO, Ellis Zimmerman in Prose, Disha Karthik in Next-In Impromptu, and Hash Vinothasha in Congressional Debate! Virtually, some of our varsity debaters were also taking on their first nats-circuit tournament of the season! We’re so proud of all of your hard work this weekend, Pioneers! Full results follow:

Congressional Debate
1st: Hash Vinothasha
6th: Henry Young

Dramatic Interpretation
3rd: Ellis Zimmerman

Junior Varsity Dramatic Interpretation
2nd: Tire Lawal

Junior Varsity Extemporaneous Speaking
6th: Lucas Easter

Extemporaneous Speaking
3rd: Disha Karthik

Humorous Duet Acting
3rd: Katie Aitken/Henry Young

Junior Varsity Humorous Duet Acting
2nd: Brynn Bozarth & Siri Nadiger
5th: Tristan Guernsey & Matt Hughes

Next-in Impromptu Speaking
1st: Disha Karthik

JV Impromptu Speaking
3rd: Disha Rai
4th: Aditi Chander

Informative Speaking
1st: Mahi Ganta
4th: Soumya Boyina

Oratorical Declamation
1st: Soumya Boyina

Original Oratory
2nd: Lila Grace Bardwell

Poetry Reading
4th: Mahi Ganta

Prose Reading
1st: Ellis Zimmerman

Junior Varsity Radio Speaking
3rd: Josie Bottomley
5th: Brynn Bozarth

Junior Varsity Special Occasion Speaking
2nd: Rhea Balakrishnan

11/01/2025

Pioneer speech had its first tournament of the season today at MSHS and took home third place overall!! Lots of these pioneers tried something new today, and we’re so proud of their progress!! Special congratulations to tournament champions Katie (HI), Soumya (DEC), Mahi (POE and INFO), Disha (IMP), and Anuurag (Top JV Radio). Full results follow:

EXT
3rd: Disha Karthik
5th: Connor Duncan

HDA
5th: Katie Aitken & Henry Young

HI
1st: Katie Aitken

IMP
1st: Disha Karthik
2nd: Ray Parmonova

INFO
1st: Mahi Ganta

DEC
1st: Soumya Boyina
5th: Suhn Kaeb

POE
1st: Mahi Ganta

RS
3rd: Ray Parmonova
6th: Will Miller
Top JV: Anuraag Kadiyala

10/24/2025

Hey everyone! We have a little less than two weeks in our SNAP fundraiser, and are halfway to our goal! Please consider donating here, or sharing this on your page!

Your donation will help students participate in tournaments across the state, at the IHSA level, and even on the national stage! Speech and Debate programs are required not only to pay for coaches and travel, but we also have to pay to bring along our own officials, pay for literature, etc. Please help us out by sharing this page with your friends and family members who care about free speech, advocacy, and student voice!

https://raise.snap.app/donate/uhighspeech-debate?fbclid=IwY2xjawNocMlleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFHWGRLczlDWEJjUUxOaHkzAR7QbUj0ZNPTH7OBXUrm9eMvVklStseukmuVhFqTAe6IiXir5ULfZC0zxUhbxg_aem_AuyOA_gGNObmppDJJjDtLQ

Support University High School Speech & Debate 2025 and help us raise $5000

10/18/2025

The debate team wrapped up their second tournament of the season this weekend! (We rushed out so quickly last week to make it back for HoCo, that we forgot to grab a picture!) Results!

Tim & Connor: Varsity PF champs!
Charan & Henry: 7th place novice PF

Speaking awards:
Henry: 3rd in novice
Tim: 7th Varsity
Connor: 6th Varsity

Go U! 🙌

10/06/2025

UPDATE: Our launch date has been postponed to October 9th. Check back then!

Hey everyone! This year as part of our fundraising efforts, the team is doing a Snap! Fundraiser. The money made as part of this campaign will benefit every member of our team!

Some people might not know that Speech and Debate programs are required not only to pay for coaches and hotels, but we also have to pay to bring along our own officials, for vans, mileage and drivers, for literature for students to perform, etc. We try really hard to make the team accessible to everyone by not asking students to fundraise for specific trips, help pay for hotels, etc. Please help us out by sharing this page with your friends and family members who care about free speech, advocacy, and student voice!

Support University High School Speech & Debate 2025 and help us raise $5000