(Photo courtesy of Shannon Vance.)

On Dec. 20, the Mountain Vista Speech and Debate team participated in the 57th Annual Golden-Mullen Tournament at Golden High School. With 27 schools in the competition, 21 students from Vista’s Speech and Debate team competed and brought home various awards. 10 students placed in the semi-finals, four placed in finals and sophomore Quinn Kamberos made history by being the first student from Mountain Vista to win the Triple Crown for best performances overall in the humor, drama, and poetry events.

The Triple Crown is an event where the participant must write and memorize a drama, poetry, and humor piece to recite in front of a panel of judges during a competition. In order to win the Triple Crown, you must have the most points and place in all of the events.

Winning the Triple Crown was a huge accomplishment for Kamberos. “When the announcer said my name, I truly couldn’t believe it,” Kamberos said. “It felt amazing to have worked so hard on something and actually win in 3 categories.”

Speech and Debate has been very important for Kamberos in her day to day life. She has been competing since the eighth grade.  “I’ve always been a performer at heart, but what got me into speech and debate was my grandfather,” Kamberos said. “He’s supported me these past 2 years, and it means the world to me.”

Since joining Speech and Debate, Kamberos feels like it has had made a huge impact on her. “I used to be very hard pressed about speaking my mind as well as making friends,” Kamberos  said.  “Speech has helped me tremendously because through this year and a half, I’ve learned how to speak my mind as well as present it in a calm and collected manner.”

Kamberos’ favorite memory from Speech and Debate is the time when she made it to finals last year. “It was at the same tournament where I won the Triple Crown and last year, I only competed in drama,” Kamberos said. “I hadn’t ever broken to finals before, and that experience of breaking and actually placing third really boosted my morale and enthusiasm for speech and debate.”

Through all of her accomplishments, Kamberos would like to thank her coach and English teacher Shannon Vance for having her back and always helping her reach her highest potential.

“Speech and Debate rocks, and I really encourage anyone who’s thinking about joining to come and see what we do next year,” Kamberos said. “It’s going to be phenomenal.”