Walter Payton College Prep

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The Walter Payton Novice debaters delivered the highlight of the 11th annual CPS Debate Championship by capturing the championship trophy in a decisive 3-0 win over Northside Prep in the finals. The team of Anisha Bhat and Ola Topczewska finished with a perfect 9-0 win-loss record. This marks the second consecutive year that Payton has captured the Novice City Championship.

The Varsity also delivered impressive results at the City Championships, marshaling a combined win-loss record of 17-3 and capturing four of the eight quarterfinalist playoff positions. Although they didn’t capture the championship itself, they were dominant as a group against a solid array of competitors.

 In a different aspect of the tournament, Lee Reed won the 2007/08 Richard M. Daley Award for Youth Leadership. This award is given to the one current debater who best embodies the leadership attributes that the League coaches and administrators as a whole aspire to cultivate in its debaters. The award considers leadership on and between teams, breadth of outside activities, and spirit of assistance to others. It is not routinely given to a student on the basis of debate achievements alone.

 Overall, Payton delivered a solid performance. The 47 top Varsity teams and 49 top Novice teams from 40 schools competed for the ultimate city titles. All six Payton debate teams qualified for the tournament playoff rounds. And all possible teams advanced to the Quarterfinals. (The Payton Novice teams were matched against each other in the first round; so one could not advance further.) As a final note, only three of these 12 debaters will graduate this year!!!

Analysis

 The CPS City Championships provided two major surprises to the Payton team:

1. The Novices captured the championship trophy in their division

2. The Varsity did not capture the championship in their division

 In regard to the Novices, they achieved limited success in a division dominated all year by Lane Tech and Whitney Young in their RCC Conference and Northside in Conference A. Their sudden rise to prominence arises from two factors. First, they worked very hard all year, and especially before this tournament. In debate, as in most ventures, dedication and diligent preparation wins the day. Second, the Varsity team members provided extraordinary assistance and personal coaching to them. Their victory is a testament to the talent of the novices. But it also demonstrates how strong teamwork is a critical asset and lies behind much of Payton’s success.

 In regard to the Varsity, Payton was considered the odds-on favorite to capture the trophy and perhaps the runner-up position as well. The top team of Lee Reed and John Trevino have delivered unprecedented success in state and national tournaments all year. No CPS team has ever achieved more. And the top four Payton Varsity teams together have qualified for more national tournament playoff opportunities than teams from all other CPS schools combined this year, and probably all other CPS teams in the 11 year history of CPS debating. Nothing can diminish that heritage.

The Payton Varsity teams felt good at this tournament. But tournament judging has a subjective element, and sometimes the resonance is not there. At the same time the playoff competition was very capable; there were no “cinderellas” in the group. (The two finalist teams are the CPS representatives at the national Urban Debate League championships this next weekend.) Our teams did not blunder. In this particular occasion they just didn’t quite have that extra something that they’ve shown on many other occasions. We congratulate those who did – Lane Tech’s and Morgan Park’s “A” teams. This time the “brass ring” is theirs.

 Actually the success of the champions testifies somewhat to the impact that Payton has had on the Chicago Debate League. The competition is learning the lessons of Payton’s success – dedication, teamwork, honest self-diagnosis, networking for information, etc. In fact, Payton debaters routinely socialize and exchange advice with debaters from other schools, including the very teams that beat them at the end this weekend. And in a Payton-originated program, all of the top 10 Varsity teams traveled with Payton to gain experience at national tournaments this year and learn the habits of success at a higher level of competition. In a sense, Payton has helped them all “elevate their game”, including our most accomplished competitors.

Next year Payton should again be the team to beat. Several competing coaches expressed some awe after this tournament at the strength of Payton sophomore and junior debaters. They grant the pre-eminence of Payton’s “A” team – seniors Lee Reed and John Trevino – a source of pride to all of them on behalf of CPS debating. But they recognize that Payton’s dominance will probably not end with their graduation. Next year Payton could have two teams at the Tournament of Champions! But we can be sure that Kelly, Lane Tech, Northside, and Whitney Young especially will be determined to eclipse whatever we can achieve. They will be good, have learned well, will have prepared well over the summer, and will be committed. The Varsity City Championships demonstrated that Payton success can never be taken for granted.

 Dick Sullivan