Sophomore Ava Aldridge went undefeated at the UIL Region 2-6A contest to take home the Lincoln-Douglas debate championship Saturday, April 26, at Baylor University in Waco. She is now among the top 12 LD debaters in 6A remaining to vie for the state title.
Aldridge went undefeated in the three preliminary rounds debating both sides of UIL’s spring-semester topic, “Resolved: Standardized testing is detrimental to equity in K-12 education.”
After preliminary rounds, Aldridge won three successive rounds, all in 2-1 decisions, against Wylie East’s Elianna Kuria in quarterfinals, Waxahachie’s Jordan Lister in semifinals, and Magnolia West’s Fiona Fox in finals. Aldridge earned redemption against Fox after the two hit in semifinals at the Caney Creek invitational in March, with Aldridge losing that match.
At the awards ceremony, Aldridge just closed her eyes and prayed.
“The second I heard that (Fox) got second, I was really relieved, but it also didn’t feel real,” she said. “I just felt really accomplished because everything I hoped for and everything I worked for finally came true.”
LD coach Stephen Green said the results show how far Aldridge has come since last year.
“To have the ability to go toe-to-toe with experienced debaters on a topic like this in a style like LD takes a ton of mental fortitude,” Green said. “As a freshman, we all saw she had this level of potential but fear and anxiety was getting in the way. Now that Ava figured out how to move past being her own biggest threat, everybody else better watch out.”
This is the second time in three years that a Caney Creek LD debater won the regional championship. Senior Breshad Robinson also won the title two years ago, also as a sophomore. He went 2-1 in the preliminary rounds this year, but ultimately lost on a 2-1 decision against Tomball Memorial’s Sadhvi Reddy.
Aldridge is the only Caney Creek state qualifier this year. She, Fox and Lister will compete at the University of Texas at Austin May 19 and 20 at the state meet.
Other Regional Results
Robinson, in addition to his quarterfinal appearance in LD, also competed in Editorial Writing and placed fifth.
Senior Camila Blancas competed in Poetry Interpretation, placing fifth.
