Eaton and Steele speech and debate teams bring in numerous honors

The Eaton High School and Steele Early College High School speech and debate teams have wrapped up their seasons with some tremendous accomplishments. Each team had students compete in the UIL Cross-Examination Debate Meets in mid-March, then won team district championships in their respective districts later in March.

Eaton’s speech and debate program, led by coach Bryan Hunter, is in its fourth year of rebuilding the program and capped the season off by winning its fourth consecutive district title. Taking  in the ultra competitive UIL District 4-6A, such a high level of sustained success is a huge accomplishment.

Just two weeks prior to winning the team championship, Eaton juniors Arden Wright and Mathias Fatchet represented the Eagles at the UIL Cross-Examination Debate Meets in Austin. The duo advanced to the 6A Octofinals, signifying the top 16 teams in the state, and earned medalist honors for the second straight year.

At Steele, the Stallions have moved from 2A to 4A in all UIL competitions this year, but the rise in difficulty didn’t stop the speech and debate teams from succeeding. Steele, led by coach Amberley Tanner, won the overall UIL Academics title in District 7-4A and also won the speech team district championship.

The Stallions also had students qualify for the UIL Cross-Examination Debate Meets earlier in March with four students traveling to Austin. The pair of sophomore Sam Dominguez and junior Orlando Roque placed first at district competition, and juniors Laila Carthan and Aamaya Smith placed second at district, making them the first students to ever represent Steele at the 4A level at the UIL CX state competition.