At the tournament, the team outpaced teams such as Abilene Cooper, Permian, Midland and Odessa to win the first place sweepstakes award.

“This is a big win for us,” said Jennifer Adams, BSHS speech coach. “We have so many new students who are finally getting their feet under them. To win a sweepstakes is a huge accomplishment and one we hope to build on.”

The debate team led the way for the fourth consecutive week in  a new event, Public Forum Debate.  

The team swept the event, placing first with Carlita Green and Bianca Mancha, second with Pete Covarrubias and Katie Cooper, third with Blake Brorman and Opal Gonzales and fourth with Tad Loftis and Jessica Rubio.

Rubio and Loftis placed third and sixth, respectively in Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking, while Green, Andrew Lewis, Loftis and Cooper placed first, third, fourth and fifth, respectively, in Original Oratory.  

Lewis also made the quarterfinals of Lincoln-Douglas Debate.

Eric Valle brought home the gold in Humorous Interpretation and second in Prose Interpretation, while Loftis continued his solid day with a third place finish in Humorous Interpretation.  The team of Will Cross and Josh Wilson placed first in Duet Interpretation and fifth in Duo Interpretation.

Also placing for the team were: Rubio, first in Impromptu; Cross, second in Impromptu;  and Green, eighth in Poetry Interpretation.

This isn’t the first time that the Steers won the title at this tournament; previous wins came in 2002, 2004 and 2005.