MLSD Hall of Fame: 2008-2017

​2008
​

Anish Pathipati ​
​

• Founder and first team President
• Created the Mira Loma "buzz" leading to dramatic growth and dynamic success in the team's first two years
• 2nd Place in Public Forum Debate at State Tournament in 2008
• 2nd place in Impromptu at State Tournament in 2008
• Competed at the NFL National Tournament in 2007 and 2008
• NFL Academic All-American in 2008
• Graduated as #1 from the Wharton School of Business Undergraduate Program at the University of Pennsylvania; currently works as an analyst for the private equity firm Silverlake
• On Forbes 30 Under 30 in Finance (2019)
  

​2009
​

Akhilesh Pathipati

• Founder and second team President
• Expanded team from 50 active members to over 100 during Presidency
• 2nd place in Public Forum Debate at State Tournament in 2008
• Competed at NFL National Tournament in 2008 and 2009
• Tenth place in Extemp Commentary at 2009 NFL National Tournament
• NFL Academic All American in 2009
• Graduated from Harvard University in 2013. Currently a student at Stanford University School of Medicine

​2010
​

Aninda Chowdhury

• Third team President
• Competed at NFL National Tournament in 2010
• Competed at Tournament of Champions in 2010
• First Policy Debate NFL Nationals Qualifier in team history
• Oversaw massive team expansion and state-wide recognition during his presidency
• Increased number of NFL Nationals Qualifiers by 100%
• Attending University of California, San Diego

Justin Lin

• Provided exceptional mentoring services to dozens of Student Congress competitors
• Competed at NFL National Tournament in 2009 and 2010
• Competed in the Tournament of Champions in 2010
• California Cup Finalist in 2010 (advancing to finals on a 5-0 ballot)
• Graduated from University of California, Berkeley in 2014

Safeena Mecklai

• First Place in Impromptu at State Tournament in 2009
• Mentored younger competitors across the region in Speech events
• Fourth Place in Impromptu at NFL National Tournament in 2010
• Competed at NFL National Tournament in 2009 and 2010
• Graduated from University of California, Berkeley in 2014

​2011
​

Vrinda Agarwal

• 4th Mira Loma Speech and Debate Team President
• Competed in the 2010 Tournament of Champions
• Competed in the 2009, 2010 and 2011 National Tournaments
• Semifinalist in Congress at the 2011 National Tournament
• Competed at the 2009 and 2010 State Tournaments
• Finalist in Public Forum at the 2010 Stanford Invitational
• Quarterfinalist in Public Forum at the 2010 Berkeley Invitational
• Finalist in Congress at the 2011 Berkeley Invitational

Benjamin Morris

• Originals Speech Captain 2010-2011
• Competed at NFL National Tournament in 2010 and 2011
• Top 60 in Public Forum at Nationals in 2010
• 25th Place in Congress (House) at Nationals in 2011
• Competed at the 2008, 2009, 2010 AND 2011 State Tournaments
• Champion in Parliamentary Debate at the 2011 MLK James Logan Invitational
• Champion in Radio Broadcasting at the 2009 UOP Invitational
• First in MLSD history to win both a speech and debate invitational
• Earned TOC bids in Public Forum in 2010 and Congress in 2011
• Two-time California Cup (Parli TOC) Qualifier
• Attending University of California, Los Angeles

Kedar Kulkarni

• Competed at NFL National Tournament in 2009, 2010 and 2011
• Top 35 in Humorous Interpretation at Nationals in 2010
• Top 30 in Public Forum at Nationals in 2011
• NFL Academic All American in 2011
• Semifinalist in Public Forum at the 2010 MLK James Logan Invitational
• Semifinalist in Public Forum at the 2010 Stanford Invitational
• Competed in the 2010 Tournament of Champions
• 4th Place Finalist in Humorous Interpretation at the 2010 State Tournament
• Semifinalist in Humorous Interpretation at the 2011 State Tournament
• Winner of 2011 President’s Award for Excellence in Speech
• Attending the University of California, Berkeley

Arushi Saxena

• Debate Captain 2010-2011
• Competed at NFL National Tournament in 2011
• Top 30 in Public Forum at Nationals in 2011
• Semifinalist in Public Forum at the 2010 MLK James Logan Invitational
• Semifinalist in Public Forum at the 2010 Stanford Invitational
• Competed in the 2010 Tournament of Champions
• Attending the University of California, Berkeley

​2012
​

Sandhya Jetty

• 5th Mira Loma Speech and Debate Team President
• 5th Place in Impromptu at the 2012 NFL National Tournament
• Competed at the 2010, 2011, and 2012 NFL National Tournaments
• Competed at the 2011 and 2012 State Tournaments
• Competed at the 2010 NCFL Grand National Tournament
• Top 60 finish in International Extemporaneous at the 2012 NFL National Tournament
• Finalist in International Extemporaneous at the 2012 Stanford Invitational
• Finalist in Impromptu at the 2011 UOP Invitational
• Finalist in Extemporaneous at the 2010 UOP Invitational
• Finalist in Novice Parliamentary Debate at the 2009 UOP Invitational
• Attending the University of Pennsylvania – Wharton School of Business

Niharika Gupta

• 2011-2012 Mira Loma Speech Captain
• 2010-2011 Vice President
• Competed at the 2010 and 2011 NFL National Tournaments
• Competed at the 2009, 2010, 2011, AND 2012 State Tournaments (First to qualify all 4 years in ML history!)
• Semifinalist in Duo Interpretation at the 2011 and 2012 State Tournaments
• Finalist in Duo Interpretation and Semifinalist in Dramatic Interpretation at the 2012 Stanford Invitational
• Attending the University of Pennsylvania

Jeffrey Leibenhaut

• 2011-2012 Mira Loma Debate Captain
• Competed at the 2012 NFL National Tournament
• Top 40 in Supplementary Debate at the 2012 NFL National Tournament
• Competed at the 2011 and 2012 State Tournaments
• Finalist in National Extemporaneous at the 2012 James Logan MLK Invitational
• 3rd in Parliamentary Debate at the 2012 State Tournament
• 2nd in Parliamentary Debate at the 2012 Stanford Invitational
• Finished 5th in the 2012 POI Parliamentary National Points Race
• Champion and Top speaker in Novice Parliamentary Debate at the 2009 UOP Invitational
• NFL Academic All American in 2012
• Attending Princeton University

Keizra Mecklai

• Competed in the 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012 State Tournaments (First in Mira Loma history to qualify all 4 years)
• 3rd in Parliamentary Debate at the 2012 State Tournament
• Finalist in Impromptu at the 2011 State Tournament
• Champion in Parliamentary Debate at the 2011 James Logan MLK Invitational
• Back-to-back Semifinalist at the 2011 and 2012 California Cup Championships (First in California Cup history to do so)
• Back-to-back Finalist in Impromptu at the 2011 and 2012 UOP Invitationals (3rd in 2011, 2nd in 2012)
• 3rd in Parliamentary Debate at the 2012 State Tournament
• 2nd in Parliamentary Debate at the 2012 Stanford Invitational
• Finished 5th in the 2012 POI Parliamentary National Points Race
• Attending Duke University

Sharath Reddy

• Creator of the 2010-2013 Mira Loma Speech and Debate Website and 2010-2012 Webmaster
• Competed at the 2011 NFL National Tournament
• Octafinalist in Public Forum at the 2011 Berkeley Invitational
• Competed at the 2010 and 2011 State Tournaments
• Champion in Radio Commentary at the 2010 UOP Invitational
• Quarterfinalist in Extemporaneous at the 2011 California Invitational
• NFL Academic All American in 2012
• Attending the University of California, Berkeley

Kevin Shi

• 2011-2012 Mira Loma Speech Captain
• Competed at the 2011 NFL National Tournament
• Competed at the 2011 and 2012 State Tournaments
• Semifinalist in Duo Interpretation at the 2011 and 2012 State Tournaments
• Finalist in Humorous and Duo Interpretations at the 2012 Stanford Invitational
• Finalist in Novice Parliamentary Debate at the 2009 UOP Invitational
• Attending the University of Chicago

​2013
​

Vaishali Mullapudi

• 6th Mira Loma Speech and Debate Team President
• 2010-2011 Treasurer
• Competed in the 2011 and 2012 State Tournaments
• Qualified to State in both LD and IX
• Reached 2nd Elimination Round in Lincoln-Douglas at States in 2012
• Attending the University of Southern California

Kunal Shah

• 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 Debate Captain
• Qualified to the 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 State Tournaments
• Qualified to the 2012 ad 2013 National Tournaments
• Qualified to the 2010 NCFL Tournament
• Semifinalist in Extemp Commentary at the 2012 National Tournament
• Semifinalist in National Extemp at the 2012 State Tournament
• 5th Place in National Extemp at the 2013 Stanford Invitational
• Semifinalist in National Extemp at the 2012 and 2013 James Logan Invitationals
• Semifinalist in International Extemp at the 2011 James Logan Invitational
• 1st Place Champion in Extemp at the 2011 UOP Invitational
• Quarterfinalist in LD at the 2010 and 2013 James Logan Invitationals
• 2nd Place in Parliamentary Debate at the 2010 St. Francis Invitational
• Attending Columbia University

Josephine Kao

• 2012-2013 Originals Speech Captain
• Competed at 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 National Tournaments (First to qualify all 4 years in ML history!)
• 5th Place in Original Oratory at the 2012 National Tournament
• 1st place back-to-back Champion in Original Oratory at the 2011 and 2012 Stanford Invitationals
• Competed in the 2012 NIETOC
• Successfully learned how to apply eyeliner in a moving car, as well as how to defeat sleep deprivation on Saturday mornings
• Attending the University of California, Berkeley

Karishma Sethi

• 2012-2013 Interps Speech Captain
• Competed at 2011 and 2012 National Tournaments
• Qualified in both Duo and DI
• Attending the University of California, Davis

​2014
​

Dhruba Biswas

• 7th Mira Loma Speech and Debate Team President
• Endured massive team reorganization, while expanding team recognition on local and national circuits without any active advisor
• Qualified to 2011 National Tournament
• Triple Octafinalist in Public Forum at 2014 Stanford Invitational
• Competed at 2014 State Tournament
• Winner of 2014 CVFL Orator’s Cup
• Attending Boston University

Zahra Abadin

• 2013-2014 Originals Speech Captain
• Competed at 2012, 2013 and 2014 National Tournaments
• Competed at 2012, 2013, and 2014 State Tournaments
• 6th place Original Oratory at 2014 State Tournament
• 1st place Champion in Original Oratory at 2014 Berkeley Invitational
• Attending the University of California, Berkeley

Tejas Pradeep

• 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 Debate Captain
• 2011-2012 Treasurer
• Competed at 2012, 2013 and 2014 State Tournaments
• Octafinalist in Public Forum at 2012 and 2013 UOP Invitationals
• Triple Octafinalist in Public Forum at 2014 Stanford Invitational
• Attending the University of California, Berkeley
  
  

Kyle Citko

• 2013-2014 Debate Captain
• 2012-2013 Tournament Coordinator/Parent Liaison
• Qualified to 2014 NCFL Tournament
• Competed at 2013 State Tournament
• ​Attending UCLA
  
  

​2015
​

Kia Aliakbar​
​

• Originals Speech and Parliamentary Debate captain for the 2014-2015 season
• Qualified for the 2015 CHSSA state tournament in Original Oratory and Impromptu
• Enjoyed debating with Mr. Sullivan for hours about the Cold War and SAR
• Quarterfinalist (2015) and Octofinalist (2014) in Original Oratory at the Cal Invitational
• His last speech as a thank you to MLSD and in honor of Satyaprit Das: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=G8murRvU1Bg
• Currently attends the University of California, Davis

​2016

Shaina Zuber
​

• 9th Mira Loma Speech and Debate Team President
• 2014-2015 Treasurer
• Qualified to 2014 NCFL Nationals in Public Forum
• Qualified to 2015 State Tournament in Public Forum
• Semifinalist in Novice Public Forum at the 2013 UOP Invitational
• Attending the University of California, Berkeley,  Class of 2020

​

Maya Alexis
​

• Champion in LD at the 2015 UOP Invitational
• 2nd place runner-up in LD at the 2016 James Logan Invitational
• 2nd place runner-up in LD at the 2014 UOP Invitational
• Top 20 at 2014 State Tournament

• Winning record at every league tournament ever attended
• Champion in Novice LD at the 2013 UOP Invitational (first ever tournament)

Nishita Jain

• 2013-2014 Team Secretary
• Competed at the 2015 National Tournament
• Qualified to 2013 Nationals and 2015 States
• Quarterfinalist in LD at 2016 James Logan Invitational
• Semifinalist in LD at 2014 UOP Invitational
• Semifinalist in Novice LD at 2012 UOP Invitational
• Attending the University of Pennsylvania, Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology

Jonathan Kung
​

• 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 Debate Captain
• 3rd place Semifinalist at 2016 LD James Logan Invitational
• Octofinalist in Lincoln Douglas at 2012 and 2014 UOP invitational
• 2014 UOP Invitational Preliminary No. 1 Seed
• Octofinalist in LD at 2014 James Logan Invitational
• Octofinalist in LD at 2013 Stanford Invitational
• Attending University of California, Berkeley

Nimish Saxena

• 2014-15 and 2015-16 Debate Captain
• 2013-14 Treasurer
• 1st Place Qualifier for 2014 NCFL Nationals in Public Forum 
• Competed at 2014 and 2015 State Tournaments in Public Forum
• Octafinalist in Public Forum at 2013 and 2014 UOP Invitationals
• 3rd Best Speaker in Public Forum at 2013 UOP Invitational​
• Octafinalist in International Extemporaneous at 2015 UOP Invitational
• Double-Octafinalist in Public Forum at 2015 James Logan Invitational
• Attending the University of California, Berkeley

​2017
​

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Charlie McMurry
​

• 10th Mira Loma Speech and Debate Team President (2016-17), Vice President (2015-16), Speech Captain (2014-15)
• First in team history to attend both a national and state tournament all four years: NSDA ('14, '15, '17), NCFL ('14, '17), NIETOC ('16, '17), CHSSA ('14 - '17)
• POI champion (2016) and 2-time HI finalist (2014, 2015) at UOP Invitational
• 2nd place in HI at 2017 James Logan Invitational
• HI finalist and POI semifinalist at 2017 Berkeley Invitational
• 3-time CA state semifinalist (2014, 2015, 2017) in HI
• 13th place (2017) and 19th place (2016) in HI at NIETOC
• 20th place in Dramatic Performance at 2017 NCFL Nationals
• 31st place in HI at 2017 NSDA Nationals
• Winner of the CVFL Orator’s Cup and qualified for the NSDA Academic All-American Award
• Attending the University of California, Berkeley

​Divita Pandita
​

• ML Secretary 2014-2015
• ​4th place in Impromptu at the U.C. Berkeley Speech Invitational  (2017)
• 4th place in Dramatic Interpretation at the Jon Schamber Speech Invitational
• ​5th place in Oratorical Interpretation at the MLK (James Logan) Speech Invitational
• Two-time octofinalist in Original Oratory (2015/2016) at the U.C. Berkeley Speech Invitational
• ​1st place qualifier to the 2017 California State Tournament in both Original Oratory and Oratorical Interpretation
• 2nd place qualifier to NCFL Nationals in Declamation
• ​Attending the University of California, Berkeley

Catherine Wang
​

• 2015 State Qualifier for Duo Interpretation
• 2015-2016 Interp Captain
• Octofinalist at 2016 James Logan Invitational for Duo Interpretation
• Octofinalist at 2016 Cal Invitational for Duo Interpretation
• 2016-2017 Team Treasurer
• 7th place at 2017 James Logan Invitational for Duo Interpretation -
• Quarterfinalist at 2017 Cal Invitational for Duo Interpretation
• 2017 NCFL Qualifier for Duo Interpretation
• 2017 NSDA Qualifier for Duo Interpretation
• Top 60 at NSDA Nationals for Duo Interpretation
• Attending UC Berkeley Fall 2017

Evelyn Zhang
​

• 2016-17 speech captain
• 2015 duo state qualifier
• 2016 James Logan semifinalist in OI
• 2017 James Logan finalist in duo
• 2017 Berkeley quarter finalist in duo
• Competed at 2017 NCFL national tournament in duo
• Top 60 at 2017 NSDA national tournament in duo

​
​2018

Nikhilesh Kumar

• ​2016-2017 and 2017-2018 LD Captain
• 2015-2016 Secretary
• Octofinalist and No.1 seed, 2016 UOP Invitational
• Qualifier to 2015, 2017 NCFL National Tournament
• Semi-finalist, 2015 Berkeley Invitational (JVLD)
• Currently attending the University of Southern California