OHS Congress debate team sweeps Regional contest

The Congress team competed at regionals on Friday, Nov. 1, at Region 9 in Wichita Falls and swept the top places.

The team did outstanding work with Morgan Simmons, junior, placing first, Ava Stewart, sophomore, placing second, and Will Caffey, freshman, placing third.

“Last year we swept the top three spots at the Regional Meet, and our goal was to do it again,” Lani Caffey, debate coach, said. “We definitely achieved it. Morgan, Will, and Ava will all advance to the State Congress Meet on Jan. 7-8 at University of Texas Austin. Last year, Morgan and Allie both advanced to fi- nals, which is called Super Congress…We’re aiming to send all three Olney competitors to Super Congress this year.”

Congress is a very unique event because they’re only able to practice during class, and must write all their legislation outside of class.

“I would describe this season of Congress as intense; we had only a month to write 30 speeches that required high-level thought, and other schools brought more competitors that were willing to speak,” Simmons said. “This caused my teammates and me to have to fight in order to win, and that’s exactly what we did.”

So far, the team has gained a lot of experience this season and will continue to learn at the next competition.

“I’m incredibly proud of all five of the students who competed in Congress this year,” Caffey said. “Colby Johnson and Foster Sullivan also competed for the first time. All five competitors put in a lot of time and effort, and they represented Olney very well.”

The Congress team is looking forward to competing at the state level next year.

“I had a goal of winning Region and going to State, and I accomplished this goal with my teammates, Ava Stewart and Will Caffey,” Simmons said. “I am proud of how we competed this year, and now we have to prepare at State.”