USN debaters claimed another championship at their first in-person tournament of the year at the Peach State Classic in Carrollton, Georgia. Congratulations to third-place speaker Madeline Shinohara ‘28, sixth-place speaker Eesha Nachnani ’28, and solo Varsity debater Charles Cook '27.
By Bill Wilson, HS Debate Coach
Eesha Nachnani ’28 and Madeline Shinohara ‘28 started the weekend strong, with preliminary wins over Johns Creek High School in Georgia, Alpharetta High School in Georgia, The Harpeth Hall School, and Montgomery Bell Academy. Their only prelim loss was to MBA. The girls then qualified for the quarterfinal bracket, where they got a rematch with the MBA duo who bested them in prelims. The girls won a decisive 3-0 victory over the MBA boys and finished the tournament as co-champions alongside pairings from Woodward Academy in Georgia, Alpharetta High School, and Northview High School in Georgia. Additionally, Madeline was recognized as the third-place speaker in the division, while Eesha claimed the sixth-place speaker award.
Varsity debater Charles Cook '27 persevered through a late drop by his partner and bravely ventured solo into a stacked varsity pool that included the second-ranked pairing in the nation from Northview High School in Georgia. Charles bested the C team from Northview and finished with a 1-3 record in prelims that were cut short by a server crash that froze the website used to tabulate the tournament.
The debaters will finish the semester with an online tournament hosted by Michigan State and Okemos High School in Michigan. Thanks for all of your support of these students.
USN Evening Classes, our one-night classes that benefit our need-based scholarship endowment, were recently featured on the City Cast Nashville podcast. Visit usneveningclasses.org to view the fall catalog.
Students in grades 5-8 and their families can take USN Evening Class 702: Mah and Pah Jong and Me to learn to play a board game together while benefiting USN's need-based scholarship endowment.
The Helen Meador Summer International Fellowship funded a summer of professional development in South America for Lower School Naturalist Carrie Riley. Through this profound experience, she said she plans to bring these lessons into her teaching, grounding her voice in wonder, joy, and a commitment to protecting the natural world, which she loves.
Tiger golfers have officially qualified for the region tournament, and our other teams are not far behind. Volleyball sits near the top of the district, finishing up regular season play next week with Senior Night. Girls soccer continues to hold first place in the district after another 9-0 win, and our cross country runners are chasing after some school records. To round it all out, our mountain bike team traveled to Oakfield to continue to improve on their times for the season. There’s plenty more where that came from- so be sure to come out to the River Campus, Sperling Gym, or out on the road to cheer on our Tigers before their seasons end.
Middle School volleyball and tennis teams are nearing the final games of their seasons, with the competition heating up while the Tigers play to determine their HVAC rankings. Cross country was finally able to race at the River Campus despite the heat, and our mountain biking team traveled to Oakfield, Tennessee, for a high-temperature race weekend.
The MTB team returned to the the twisty trails of tranquil Oakfield, TN on Sept 13th to take part in the second race of the season, as part of the 5-race series hosted by the NICA/TICL League.
USN Mission: University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.