The reigning speech and debate district champions, the Cannibals, have spread throughout Cleveland like the plague. Over 140 students on campus have competed this year, attesting to the growing popularity of a team which has taken first at five of six fall tournaments.

Last year, Cleveland's Tara Urner made it to the National Forensics League (NFL for short) national championship tournament, where she took 42nd in the country in Spontaneous Argumentation. The Cannibals hope to send more like her to this year's national tournament in Indiannapolis, Indiana.

The team has grown so big that it has been forced to split into four squads: the Riders of Brohan, eh?, the Donner Party, the Jedi Council and the Corsairs. Each squad is captained by two top-notch competitors who have volunteered dozens of hours this year into making the team more competative.

"We've done better than fantastic this year. Super fantastic," said Riders of Brohan, eh? co-captain jr, Hanah Shilling. "I can't wait to see what happens at state."

The speech and debate team will hold their biggest fundraiser, Sweet Speeches—a speech and debate variety show--in May.

Fall Tournaments
Barlow: 1st—237 points.
Willamette: 3rd—123 points.
Sprague: 1st—108 points.
Silverton: 1st—168 points.
Clackamas: 1st—113 points.
Ridgefield: 1st—132 points.