The Central North Island Regional Tournament was held on the 12th and 13th of March at Saint Peter’s College in Palmerston North. 18 teams travelled from around the region to attend the tournament, the most the region has seen in a number of years.
The calibre of the tournament was incredibly high, with five preliminary rounds on the Saturday and Sunday to determine who would break for the semi-finals. Debate motions ranged from the popularity of reality television in New Zealand to the memorialisation of soldiers.
The four teams who broke were Wanganui High School A, Palmerston North Girls High School 2, Collegiate, and Wanganui High School B. From these semi-finals, Wanganui High School B and Collegiate progressed through to the finals.
The motion for the final round was “that major film and television awards should have racial quotas for nominating non-white actors” with Wanganui High School affirming, and Collegiate negating. After a high quality debate, Wanganui High School were announced as the unanimous winners of the Central North Island regional competition.
An additional thank you to the adjudicators who travelled for the tournament.
Winners: Wanganui High School B
Jeanne-Marie Bonnet
Connor Cresswell
Jack Southee
Runners-Up: Collegiate
Grayson Nepia
James Ensor
Jonathon de Jongh
Best Speaker
Gabrielle Penn (Wanganui High School)
Most Promising Speaker
Denzel Chung (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Promising Speakers
Grayson Nepia (Collegiate)
Aidan Berkhan (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Highly Commended
Catherine Reynolds (Saint Peter’s College)
Kaia Costanza-van Den Belt (Palmerston North Girls’ High School)
Central North Island Squad
Gabrielle Penn (Wanganui High School)
Jackie Hazelhurst (Wanganui High School)
Denzel Chung (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Milo Costanza-van Den Belt (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Alister Hughes (Wanganui High School)
Jeanne-Marie Bonnet (Wanganui High School)
