North Lamar High School’s team of Katie Hodgkiss, a sophomore, and Mason Remaley, a senior, have been named UIL Cross Examination (CX) Debate State Champions.
Over Spring Break, North Lamar’s CX Debate had two teams competing in Austin for the state title. As luck would have it, North Lamar competed against North Lamar with the number two team of Colin Hodgkiss and Zach Huffman finishing fifth in the state.
In the preliminary rounds, Zach and Colin were undefeated and ranked second, while Katie and Mason won three out of four rounds ranking them seventh. It was during this day that Mason received the bronze gavel for placing third best speaker of the tournament. Both teams won their Octofinals rounds on the second day.
“Unfortunately, the bracket did not fall in our favor, and the two teams had to debate each other in quarterfinals,” said NLHS debate coach Kristi Hodgkiss. “They were professional and courteous but went hard.” Katie and Mason won the round on a 2-1 ballot. They went on to defeat Lampasas in semi-finals, and Athens in finals.