Seven straight county championships. Fifteen of their last seventeen championships. The WJ debate team has been a dominant force for the past two decades.


Senior co-captain Claire Kim has been a key component in the success of the debate team the past three years.

“I think the seventh championship means a lot to all of us on the debate team because we are a team that really puts in a ton of ones effort into debate,” said Kim.

Starting at the beginning of August until about three weeks ago, Kim and the rest of the debate team have invested around one and a half to two hours per week for practice.

Senior Clare Riva sees this season as a transition year though still found a way to keep the championship streak alive like previous seasons.

“I mean, the closest thing I could compare this to is when we won last year, but this was even better,” said Riva. “We had a rebuilding year and we had to fight for it, but we have great veterans as well as a lot of younger talent this year and they all did great in the end.”

Although eight seniors, including Kim, are leaving the team, the team will likely continue working to stay on top.

“All I know is that we will always strive to continue this dominating streak no matter what obstacles come to pass,” said Kim.