The Mount Pleasant High School Cross-Examination debate team of senior Connelly Cowan and junior Anthony Orellana competed in the UIL 5A State CX Debate tournament on March 18-19. Held on the campus of The University of Texas at Austin, it would mark the return to in-person state competition for the first time since 2019. The event was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID and was held online in 2021. It would be the fourth and final appearance at state for Cowan and the first for Orellana.

On day one, the field began with 55 teams entered from across the state of Texas. Mount Pleasant CO debated teams from Highland Park, Liberal Arts and Science Academy (LASA), Princeton, and Frisco Independence. That evening, the teams gathered in the University Teaching Center to learn if they had advanced to the second day. Scores are determined by a combination of wins and losses as well as the speaker points given to each team member.

The first awards given are to the top six speakers in each division. Orellana was awarded the Gold Gavel for having the highest speaker points among all 110 contestants in 5A. He earned 59.9 adjusted speaker points, just .1 away from a perfect score of 60. It is the third year in a row that the UIL 5A State Top Speaker is from Mount Pleasant High School. Cowan was awarded the Bronze Gavel for having the third highest speaker points, just .9 behind her partner. She was the Silver Gavel recipient in 2021.

After speaker awards are presented, the top 16 advancing teams in each division are announced in alphabetical order. Mount Pleasant CO learned that not only had they

advanced to the top sixteen and would debate for state medals the next day, but they would do so as the #1seed in 5A.

Day 2 started with octofinals where MPHS would defeat Friendswood on a 3-0 decision. In quarterfinals, MPHS would face Princeton for the second time and were able to defeat them on a 3-0 decision. They defeated A&M Consolidated in the semifinals on a 2-1 decision and found themselves in UIL State finals, a feat never before achieved by an MPHS CX team. They were eventually defeated in the final round by LASA CH, a nationally ranked team from Austin, to take the UIL State Silver medal. It was the seventh UIL State medal and second state speaker award for Cowan, and the first state medal and state speaker award for Orellana.

“This year’s state tournament was the perfect conclusion to my UIL debate career,” said Cowan. “Anthony and I have worked hard all year long in hopes of achieving state success, and competing in the final round is a memory I will cherish forever. I am incredibly proud of Anthony for how far he has progressed this year. I’m also so grateful for the support of my parents, coaches, and teammates. It’s hard to believe this chapter of my life is over, but I cannot possibly think of a better way for it to end.”

Cowan and Orellana will compete in their final CX tournament together at NSDA Nationals in Louisville in June. They both turn their attention toward extemporaneous speaking with the district meet set for this weekend. Cowan is currently deciding which university she will attend and is the daughter of Collin and Kelly Cowan. Orellana will return for his senior year in the fall and is the son of Vicente Arroyo and Onelia Orellana.

Photo L to R: Connelly Cowan, Coach Enrique Martinez, and Anthony Orellana with their speaker awards and UIL State silver medals