The HHS Debate team traveled to the Region 5D tournament, which was held at Turner Ashby High School on Saturday, March 7. Members competed in both the Lincoln-Douglas Division and the Public Forum Division. For the Lincoln-Douglas Division, junior Nathan Henderson and sophomore Kate Kirwan remained unbeaten until the final round, where they faced each other. In the end, Kirwan took first place overall and Henderson received second. They will both, however, continue to state tournaments held in April. 

For the Public Forum division, juniors Stella Alexiou and Emma Lankford took first place after facing last year’s state champions from Patrick Henry High School. Just like Kirwan and Henderson, both Alexiou and Lankford had to face their teammates, senior Ritt Culbreth and junior Hayden Kirwan, who were state finalists last year. Though Culbreth and Kirwan finished second, they, alongside Alexiou and Lankford, have qualified for states and will be moving on forward. 

In the end, the achievements of the whole team had HHS finish as a top school of the tournament.