Riverside Speech Boosters

Congratulations to the Riverside High School Speech and Debate Team for competing at the 2026 National Speech and Debate Tournament in Richmond, VA, on June 14th - June 20th. Riverside won the Schools of Excellence in Speech award for finishing with the top 20 teams in the nation for the third consecutive year. In addition to the team award, several students won individual honors. Out of pools of hundreds of talented competitors, several students were Octafinalists (Top 60) or Quarterfinalists (Top 30).

Main Events

Senior Sash Sivaraman was a Semifinalist (14th) in International Extemporaneous Speaking.

Senior Enyo Toklo was a Quarterfinalist in Informative Speaking.

Senior Artem Feno was a Quarterfinalist in House Congressional Debate.

Senior Catalina Jara Parada was an Octafinalist in Dramatic Interpretation.

Sophomore Anamika Nair was a Quarterfinalist in United States Extemporaneous Speaking.

Sophomore Avi Bhatia was a Quarterfinalist in Program Oral Interpretation.

Junior Mikel Eguiraun was a Quarterfinalist in Humorous Interpretation.

Junior Tanvi Chelasani was an Octafinalist in United States Extemporaneous Speaking.

Middle Schooler Silvia Lopez Africano was an Octafinalist in Declamation.

Supplemental Events

Junior Suprith Vandanam was a Quarterfinalist in Expository Speaking.

Sophomore Benjamin Lin was a Quarterfinalist in Expository Speaking.

Senior Charline Monnier was a Double Octafinalist in Prose Interpretation.

Junior Eli Golob was an Octafinalist in Original Spoken Word Poetry.

Sophomore Juliana Lopez Africano was a Quarterfinalist in Original Spoken Word Poetry and a Double Octafinalist in Poetry.

Senior Catalina Jara Parada was a Double Octafinalist in Prose and a Quarterfinalist in Storytelling.

Junior Aahanna Das was a Double Octafinalist in Expository Speaking.

Senior Pranita Kata was a Double Octafinalist in Expository Speaking.

Sophomore Fox Vickery was a Double Octafinalist in Expository Speaking.

Senior Isabella Murillo was a Double Octafinalist in Extemporaneous Commentary and a Quarterfinalist in Impromptu.

Sophomore Nirvan Gupta was a Double Octafinalist in Extemporaneous Commentary and a Quarterfinalist in Impromptu.

Junior Tanvi Chelasani was a Double Octafinalist in Extemporaneous Commentary.

Senior Samhitha Visikamalla made round 6 of Extemporaneous Debate.

The captains of the 2025-2026 season are Enyo Toklo, Artem Feno, and Sash Sivaraman. The incoming captains for the 2026-2027 season are Tanvi Chelasani and Isabella Batista. David Dejesa is the school advisor and program director. Heather Brown-Cook, Jinsoo Kim, Pete Martin, Rohit Yarlagadda, and Cara Sizemore serve as volunteer coaches. Greg Cook is the senior coach.Riverside High School - South Carolina

Day 4
Supplemental Speech Elims
Extemp Debate Elims
MS Prelims/Elims

Keep an eye on the livestream at 4:15pm to see Coach Heather Brown Cook receive her Second Diamond for Coaching Excellence.

Late Breaking News from Supplemental Events

Advancing to Double Octofinals
Chelasani, Tanvi — Commentary
Das, Aahanna — Expository
Golob, Eli — Original Spoken Word Poetry
Gupta, Nirvan — Commentary and Impromptu
Jara, Catalina — Prose and Storytelling
Kata, Pranita — Expository
Lin, Benjamin — Expository
Lopez Africano, Juliana — Original Spoken Word Poetry and Poetry
Monnier, Charline — Prose
Murillo, Isabella — Commentary and Impromptu
Vandanam, Suprith — Expository
Vickery, Fox — Expository

Visikamalla, Sam — Extemporaneous Debate Rd 5