Five members of the debate and forensics team competed June 14 to 19 at the National Speech and Debate tournament in Dallas, finishing 38th in the nation as a team.

Among their accomplishments:

Senior Stefan Petrovic made it to octofinals in foreign extemporaneous speaking for ninth place.

Senior Joaquin Dorado-Mariscal finished 182nd in the nation in humorous interpretation.

Junior Natalie Cote finished 137th in the nation in dramatic interpretation.

“I was really honored to get the chance to compete,” Cote said. “It was an amazing learning experience because all week you see performances from some of the nation’s best forensicators.”

LHS students faced 4,000 students from around the nation.

“One of the major differences between nationals and regular season competition [was] the size,” Cote said. “It’s hard to wrap your head around that big of a number until you stand in the lobby and are bombarded with hundreds upon hundreds of teenagers, all as excited and nervous as you. It was a little overwhelming but in a good way.”