Accomplishments Honored At 2009 Webster Club Awards Night

Posted on May 17th, 2009 by Bill Batterman (Category: News)

The Webster Club hosted its annual Awards Night at Marquette University High School this past Tuesday to honor the accomplishments of this year’s squad. With their parents providing a pot luck dinner, debate and forensics students received accolades for their hard work and competitive success during the past year. Although the National Catholic Forensic League and National Forensic League National Tournaments remain on our schedule, the Awards Night provided a fitting conclusion to what has been an extremely successful season.

A full list of the awards and honors that were given is below the fold.

Team Captains

The team captains for this year’s squad included:

1. Joe Balistreri – Debate
2. Nicholas Nassif – Forensics/Public Forum Debate
3. Ben Benson – Policy Debate
4. Samuel N. Hope IV – Lincoln-Douglas Debate

Reverend Curry Scholarships

This year’s Rev. Curry Scholarships were presented a day earlier at the Senior Awards Convocation.

1. Joe Balistreri – Policy Debate
2. Sam Hope – Lincoln-Douglas Debate
3. Nicholas Nassif – Forensics

National Qualifiers

Marquette qualified for all four national tournaments this season.

National Forensic League National Tournament:

1. Joe Balistreri & Michael Hoffmann – Policy Debate
2. Ben Benson & Noah Charles – Policy Debate

National Catholic Forensic League Grand Nationals:

1. Alex Beck & Jack Mackay – Policy Debate
2. Paras Bansal & Sam Scheurell – Policy Debate

National Debate Coaches’ Association National Championship:

1. Joe Balistreri & Ben Benson – Policy Debate

The Tournament of Champions at the University of Kentucky:

1. Joe Balistreri & Michael Hoffmann – Policy Debate

State Tournament Elimination Round Participants

Marquette earned this year’s State Championships in Policy and Lincoln-Douglas Debate.

1. Joe Balistreri & Michael Hoffmann – Champions in Policy Debate
2. Ben Benson & Noah Charles – Quarterfinalists in Policy Debate
3. Sam Hope – Champion in Lincoln-Douglas Debate
4. Christopher Christmas – Semifinalist in Lincoln-Douglas Debate
5. Nicholas Nassif - 2nd Place in Radio Announcing
6. Matt Dean - 5th Place in Radio Announcing
7. Brandon Kurzynski - Semifinalist in Humorous Interpretation

Leading National Forensic League Point Recipients

The following students are in the top ten in points as of May 2009.

1. Nicholas Nassif- 1,455 (Outstanding Distinction)
2. Joe Balistreri - 1,366 (Outstanding Distinction)
3. Ben Benson - 1,361 (Outstanding Distinction)
4. Noah Charles - 1,141 (Outstanding Distinction)
5. Samuel Hope - 1,078 (Outstanding Distinction)
6. Michael Hoffmann - 1,074 (Outstanding Distinction)
7. Jack Mackay - 857 (Superior Distinction)
8. Alex Beck - 504 (Special Distinction)
9. Jeremy Schmid - 416 (Distinction)
10. Zach Kasun - 403 (Distinction)

Special Award Recipients

The following special awards were given to deserving students.

1. The 2009 James Madison Copeland Webster Club Speaker of the Year Award — Joe Balistreri
2. Policy Debate MVP — Joe Balistreri
3. Lincoln-Douglas Debate MVP — Sam Hope
4. Public Forum Debate MVP — Nicholas Nassif
5. Four-Year Career Achievement Award — Ben Benson / Noah Charles
6. Debate Rookie of the Year — Tyler Thur
7. NFL Point Leader, Seniors — Nicholas Nassif
8. NFL Point Leader, Juniors — Matthew Waldoch
9. NFL Point Leader, Sophomores — Michael Hoffmann
10. NFL Point Leader, Freshmen — Tyler Thur

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