Newark continues its winning record

By Militza Diaz

December 15, 2010 - Newark received high honors at this weekend's Ridge High School tournament in Basking Ridge, NJ. The results of the 105 students who attended the competition from Newark were truly formidable.

Our Varsity Policy contestants were on fire, with 4 of the 8 quarterfinal places going to Newark debaters. The team of Luis Carrera and Julian Jimenez from Science Park went undefeated (5-0) during the preliminary rounds, made it to elimination rounds in Quarters, and were finally eliminated by Brooklyn Technical High School in Semi Finals.

The team of Alberto Acosta and Queen Lou Allen were in 5th place and made it to Quarter Finals. They were defeated by Newburg Free Academy. Science Park's Jaysen Bazile and Flavia Bortoleto were in 6th place, and lost their Quarterfinal match to Beacon High School. Eighth place Jazir Beckford & Quarmir Johnson , from American History, were 3-2 in preliminary rounds and lost to the top team at the competition, Bronx Science High School.

We also had 5 of the top 10 speaker awards in Varsity. Queen Lou Allen from Technology High school was the top speaker of the tournament, and Jazir Beckford form American History was the 2nd Speaker. Fifth Speaker was his partner Quarmir Johnson, and 8th speaker was University High School's Amna Tariq. Tenth place Speaker was Kevon Haughton from Eastside High School.

In Novice Policy, the Hybrid Team of Chaz Wyche (American History) and Adjo Somenou ( University ) finished the tournament with a 4-1 record in 6th place overall. They were defeated in Quarterfinal by the 3rd seeded team, Bronx Science High School.

Overall, an admirable showing by the Newark Public Schools at this spirited regional competition.