This past weekend on Nov. 5 and 6 2025, the Horizon Honors Speech and Debate team participated in one of the biggest tournaments of the season: The Winter Trophy Tournament. The team had many entries into various events, like Informative, Prose, and more. 

The team did incredibly well, with nine people making it to semi finals/finals, and eight people winning awards, some of them winning more than one! This tournament’s winners were Abbi Prieto, Ian Mayercek, Melanie Nichols, Ayana Bipin, Syd Drowne, Matthew Greco, and Gavin Flusche, with Raees Crosby making it to semi-finals!

The team won many events across lots of categories, including Prose, Duet Acting, Program Oral Interpretation, Poetry, and Informative. Abbi Prieto won first place in Prose, increasing her winning streak for the event, Ian Mayercek also placed, getting third place in Prose, with Ayana Bipin taking fourth. In Duet Acting, Syd Drowne and Matthew Greco won second place, and Melanie Nichols and Ayana Bipin won sixth place. In Program Oral Interpretation, Syd Drowne won third place, and Gavin Flusche won fourth place in Poetry.

The school’s very own Elena Duncan-Pope also won a competition by designing the official 2025 Winter Trophy t-shirt. 

All in all, this tournament was a highly successful one! The next tournament will be Speech only, as well as Congress, and it will take place on January 17, 2026. After that, it’s the State tournament for the team. Make sure to go cheer them on as they continue to amazingly represent our school!