Our NFL Roots

As Julie Andrews once implored, you need to start at the very beginning.  Pictured above is Ray Kolbe, who was the first debate coach that Lakeville ever had (as far as we know).  Mr. Kolbe judged me when I was in high school — there was a time where there were a lot of St. Francis vs. Lakeville debates in those days.  My lasting memory of him is his joy when Lakeville next qualified for nationals in 1984.

This is the first page of the records as they were kept by the NFL. Mr. Kolbe made Lakeville a member of the National Forensic League in 1965.   By 1971 Ray Kolbe had earned his first NFL Diamond and in 1972 Lakeville was recognized as the largest NFL chapter in the Twin Cities.  The first trip to nationals took place in 1974 – Brett Gemlo qualified in Congress.

The NFL has provided us with a PDF that is a copy of our entire NFL history.

Flashback: 1994

Here is what the team looked like in 1994.  Like all team banquets at that time, it was held at Mt. Olivet.  Thanks Joleen Thompson for the picture.

First State Champion

Ruth Kirkwold Larson was the first State Champion debater at Lakeville, winning State in 1992. It was a busy day for Ruth — on the same day she found out that she’d been awarded a full scholarship to study science at St. Thomas; later that evening she won the VFW Voice of Democracy oratorical contest. Not a bad day.

Flashback: 1967

Lakeville debate became active in the mid-1960′s.  Below are the earliest team photos.  Remember that at this time debate was comprised of four person teams. (Thanks to Preeya for digging these up today!)

1967 MSHSL State Tournament debaters from Lakeville

The 1967 “A” team.

The 1967 “B” team

Andover Summary

We ventured to the northern reaches of the Twin Cities this morning and it was well worth the early morning bus ride. [photos]

In Novice [novice packet]:

Katie Wilcox was 4-1, honorable mention.
Jeremy Lund also 4-1, 5th place and 2nd speaker.
Kaylee Kitzman was 5-0, 3rd place – Kaylee lost 2 debates in October!
Logan Roberts also 5-0, 2nd place

A special thanks and congrats to our novices for such a great october.  You have all had such great effort, energy, and dedication.  Nice work!

In Varsity [varsity packet]:

Leema John – 10th place, 3rd speaker
Raffi Garnighian - 4-1 5th place
Wes Brand – 5-0 2nd place
Dylan Slinger – 5-0 and 1st place speaker as well