Meet the Coaches

Nick has served as president of his debate team for 5 years, founded his high school team in freshman year, and has since led it to achieving NSDA charter chapter status. He was a finalist in the 2023 UK TOC and a 2023 NSDA National Finalist in Congressional Debate - House. Nick has also champed natcirc tournaments such as the UK Season Opener (twice), Blue Key (twice), Nova Titan, and Sunvite. He is currently ranked #1 in the country in congressional debate by NSDA points. Nick has coached students to finals of Middle School Harvard, UK TOC, and the FL state championship in congressional debate. Nick is also the founder and executive director of Equality in Forensics.

Owen is a Junoir at Packer and is super excited to be the head of coaching at Equality in Forensics! Most notably, he championed Yale, finalled Harvard, t6ed other bid tournaments, is undefeated on the NYC circuit, and reached far into elimination rounds at Emory, NSDA Senate, Bronx (2x), Princeton (2x), Harvard (2x), and more. He has ranked at the top of the TOC scoreboard, with 8 bids in his first year alone. He has additionally been invited to the Durham and Harvard Round Robins. As a coach he helps students find their unique voices in debate rounds and in real life. Outside of debate, Owen can be found spending time with friends, going on walks, watching SNL weekend updates, leading Earth Club and Model UN, and editing for his school newspaper.

Cris has been involved in debate for 4 years, competing in both congressional debate and extemporaneous speaking. In Congress, he was a Texas Forensic State finalist and just recently placed 3rd at the Texas UIL state tournament. He automatically qualified for the TOC this year and placed top 10 at every national tournament he has competed in this year, placing 4th at Glenbrooks and 6th at the Longhorn classic. As the president of my debate team, he has coached at multiple levels and multiple state qualifiers.

Breck DuPaul has been involved in Speech & Debate for three years as a competitor. He has a love for teaching having taught sailing, English, and math to kids in Virginia and Ohio. In Congressional Debate, Breck was a TOC finalist, NSDA semifinalist, Harvard semifinalist, 3rd at Emory, the Runner-Up at Yale, Champion at Durham, 6th at Florida Blue Key and a Finalist at the New York City Invitational. He was also invited to the Harvard, FBK, and Durham Round Robin, where he placed 2nd.

Helios Lung is a retired interper turned congressional debater. After fumbling sems at the California state tournament in HI freshman year, he switched events out of shame, and has since championed Stanford 2023, placed 5th at Glenbrooks 2023, 4th at Berkeley 2023, and 5th at the 2023 California state tournament. He's looking forward to competing at the Harvard Round Robin later this season. Outside of debate, he studies cuisines of the world with gastronomy connoisseur Devarsh Borah.

Nia was a 2023 NSDA National Finalist in Congressional Debate and was ranked second in Texas based on state points. She has been an assistant debate teacher for 3 years and has done a variety of events, ranging from debates to speeches to interps.

Ethan Maher has competed in Congress for 4 years, competing in speech and debate for the past 6. As a junior in high school, his accolades include being Virginia's Congress state champion, a runner-up at Princeton University, and third place at the University of Florida Blue Key. He has semifinaled at both NSDA Nationals and Tournament of Champions and is in the top 25 in NSDA's rankings, as well as top 10 in the nation for Congress. In his spare time, he is an enthusiastic soccer fan who loves watching sports and traveling.