AURORA - The Colorado High School Activities Association will host the 2026 5A Speech and Debate State Championships on Friday and Saturday at Cherokee Trail High School.
The 4A State Tournament will have competitions in Dramatic Interpretation, Humorous Interpretation, Duo Interpretation, Program Oral Interpretation, International Extemporaneous Speaking, United States Extemporaneous Speaking, Original Oratory, Informative Speaking, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Interpretation of Poetry, Public Forum Debate and Congressional Debate.
The championship field includes four returning state champions, but only Dramatic Interpretation champion Amani Khalik of Aurora Central will be competing in the exact same role. Gavin Neale of Denver East, who was the Congressional Debate champion last year, will compete in United States Extemporaneous Speaking, and Poetry Reading champion Ava Jacobson of George Washington will compete in Dramatic Interpretation. Cade Ramirez of George Washington, champion in Policy Debate last year, will comete in the event with a new partner, Yoale Amanual.
To view the awards cermony, tentatively scheduled for 7:30 p.m. search for "CT Athletics" on youtube. Score postings will be available here.
Last season Denver East edged two-time defending state champion George Washington 108-106 for the championship. Cherry Creek was third with 84, while Cherokee Trail was fourth with 58 and Denver School of the Arts was fifth with 52.
In addition to Khalik, the Dramatic Interpretation competitors incldue Levi Wooldridge of Mullen, who was runner-up in last year, and Jordan Meyer of Rocky Mountain, who was part of the runner-up team in Duo Interpretation last year.
That leaves Moira Hagerty of Denver East as the top returning finisher in Duo Interpretation after she was third last year. Her new partner is Ollie Ergun.
Meyer's partner last year, Jackson Bramwell, will compete in Humorous Interpretation. Hank Layton of Rock Canyon, third last year, leads the list of returnees in that event.
Looking to challenge the Ramirez-Amanual team in Policy Debate is Cherry Creek's Becky Gao (who was second last year) and new partner Deeptha Sridhar. Another Cherry Creek team, Hailey Shim and Meryl Welsh, are back after reaching last year's semifinals and still another Cherry Creek team that reached the semfinals included Krit Krishna, who paired with Sridhar last year but teams up with Jay Deshpande this time.
The Congressional field includes runner-up Kartikey Mishra of Cherry Creek.
Emma Luu of Pine Creek is the top returning competitor in Informative Speaking following her third-place finish in 2025. Her competitors include Rebecca Park of Rocky Mountain, runner-up last year in Program Oral Interpretation
With Park in another event, Rock Canyon's Sahana Dash, fourth last year, is the top returning placewinner in Program Oral Interpretation. Kashvi Kaul of Cherry Creek is back after placing fifth.
In International Extemporaneous Speaking, Natalie Cappelletti of Fairview leads the list after placing third last year. Kate Vogel of Cherokee Trail, part of a semifinalist team in Public Forum Debate, is also in the field.
Two quarterfinalists in Lincoln-Douglas Debate are back at it again in Kent Denver's Akhil Ayalur and Fossil Ridge's Misha Suthar.
The Public Forum Debate field includes Eaglecrest's Verena Gerges, who was another of the quarterfinalists in Lincoln-Douglas debate last year.
Siddharth Dodda of Pine Creek is back in Original Oratory after placing third in that event.
The top returning placewinner in Poetry Reading is Liberty's Zoe Stanley, who was fifth.
The top returner in Public Forum Debate is semifinalist Teddy Rasmussen of Denver East, along with new partner David Abrams.
Runner-up Isaac Edwards of Loveland leads the list of returnees in United States Extemporaneous Speaking. Noah Harris of Kent Denver was third.