Freshmen Shine at Lincoln-Sudbury Warrior Showdown

Sudbury, Mass.— Two freshmen took home first-place honors during the Catholic Memorial School speech and debate team’s latest first-place finish in Sudbury over the weekend.

Freshman Colin Bligh, a Medfield resident, won first place in Radio Broadcasting while freshman William Masferrer, a Milton resident, won first place in Novice Oral Interpretation at the Lincoln-Sudbury Warrior Showdown on Saturday afternoon.

Their performances, along with the first-place finishes of senior Kevin Boyle in Dramatic Performance and senior co-captain Marcus Gadsden in Prose Reading, powered the CM speech and debate team to a first-place finish over the 37 other teams in the competition.

“I actually didn’t even learn that I won until the Monday after since I had left Lincoln-Sudbury to watch CM play in the Super Bowl,” said Colin.

“I was ecstatic when I found out that my hard work paid off with a first-place victory.”

For Colin, his performance marked the first win of his high school speech and debate career.

When asked what he attributed to his early success at the high school level. Colin said that his experience on Ms. Ellen Eberly’s middle school speech and debate team made him into a stronger public speaker.

“I previously had enjoyed success with Mrs. Eberly in on the middle school speech team last year, but it was extremely rewarding to see my skills translated from the middle to high school level,” added Colin.

According to Brother Cavet, the freshmen on this year’s team continue to improve and make their presence felt at competitions.

“There are 23 freshmen on the team and they’re arguably the most promising class that we’ve had in years,” said Head Coach Br. Anthony Cavet.

“They come into my classroom and practice all the time. It really shows when they perform in competitions. I couldn’t be prouder of them.”

Freshman Samuel Cahill-Farella, of Framingham, finished second in the Radio Broadcasting category during the competition on Saturday. Earlier this season, he earned first place in the Radio Broadcasting category and won Best Novice for his performance at Natick High School.

Freshmen Aidan Dever and Johnny Cardarelli also recorded strong performances on Saturday. Aidan finished in the semi-finals of the Congress category while Johnny finished sixth in the Play Reading category.

The speech and debate team will compete next in the Natick Holly Festival at Natick High School on Saturday.

According to Brother Cavet, the team hopes to keep building momentum so that students may carry their success into the New Year.