POLICY DEBATE — HISTORY

Over the past fifteen years of policy debate, only nine different schools have claimed a state championship in this event. Achieving dominance across all three divisions in a single season is even rarer—Woodward Academy remains the only school to accomplish this feat, sweeping all three titles in 2016.

Several schools have come close, reaching the finals in all three divisions within the same year, including Alpharetta (2020), Northview (2023), Pace Academy (2013, 2014), and Woodward Academy (2016, 2022, 2024, 2025). These programs have consistently demonstrated excellence, cementing their place among Georgia’s most competitive policy debate teams.

Since 2011, five debaters have won policy debate in all three divisions.

  • Tanner Lewis — Pace Academy

  • Clyde Shepherd — Pace Academy

  • Mona Mahadevan — Woodward Academy

  • Malachi Robinson — Woodward Academy

  • Jackson Hightower — Woodward Academy

  • Championships
  • Championships
Woodward Academy has the most state championships in policy debate since 2011 with twenty!

Varsity Division

  • 2011

    State Champion
    Woodward Academy
    Jason Sigalos & Rahim Shakoor

    State Runner Up
    Pace Academy
    Jordan Epstein & Victor Skendari

  • 2012

    State Champion
    Woodward Academy
    Jason Sigalos & Rahim Shakoor

    State Runner Up
    Dunwoody High School
    Robert Galerstein & Hayley Hopkins

  • 2013

    State Champion
    Chattahoochee High School
    Viveth Karthikeyan & Andrew Lockwood

    State Runner Up
    Pace Academy
    Jordan Epstein & Victor Skendari

  • 2014

    State Champion
    Pace Academy
    Tanner Lewis & Clyde Shepherd

    State Runner Up
    Westminster Schools
    Anish Dayal & Harrison Hall

  • 2015

    State Champion
    Chattahoochee High School
    Jacob Shelton & Spencer Weiser

    State Runner Up
    Pace Academy
    Tanner Lewis & Clyde Shepherd

  • 2016

    State Champion
    Woodward Academy
    Ali Abdullah & Arjun Srinivasan

    State Runner Up
    Milton High School
    Genevieve Hackman & Alyssa Hoover

  • 2017

    State Champion
    Woodward Academy
    Max Abramson & Tripp Haskins

    State Runner Up
    Woodward Academy
    Alanna Pearson & Arjun Srinivasan

  • 2018

    State Champion
    Woodward Academy
    Mona Mahadevan & Malachi Robinson

    State Runner Up
    Woodward Academy
    Alanna Pearson & Arjun Srinivasan

  • 2019

    State Champion
    Woodward Academy
    Mona Mahadevan & Malachi Robinson

    State Runner Up
    Chattahoochee High School
    Josh Jeong & Rithvik Nagabhirava

  • 2020

    State Champion
    Alpharetta High School
    Suchestas Boki & Jordan Di

    State Runner Up
    Woodward Academy
    Nishita Ghanate & Sachi Reddy

  • 2021

    State Champion
    Woodward Academy
    Ashna Ghanate & Sachi Reddy

    State Runner Up
    Woodward Academy
    Jackson Hightower & Ria Thakur

  • 2022

    State Champion
    Woodward Academy
    Jackson Hightower & Elizabeth Li

    State Runner Up
    Decatur High School
    Will Kochel & Max Van Kruijssen

  • 2023

    State Champion
    Alpharetta High School
    Eshan Momin & Anish Thatiparthi

    State Runner Up
    Northview High School
    Jerry Chen & Ayush Potdar

  • 2024

    State Champion
    Northview High School
    Jerry Chen & Ayush Potdar

    State Runner Up
    Woodward Academy
    Thad Cross & John Masterson

  • 2025

    State Champion
    Northview High School
    Jerry Chen & Kento Taylor

    State Runner Up
    Woodward Academy
    Thad Cross & John Masterson

Second Year Division

  • 2011

    State Champion
    Pace Academy
    Jack Bowen & Paula Cheng

    State Runner Up
    Chattahoochee High School
    Viveth Karthikeyan & Christi Koutrelakos

  • 2012

    State Champion
    The Westminster Schools
    Mallika Madhusudan & Eileen Li

    State Runner Up
    The Westminster Schools
    Dillon Hall & Bryant Wang

  • 2013

    State Champion
    Pace Academy
    Tanner Lewis & Clyde Shepherd

    State Runner Up
    Alpharetta High School
    Kiyoshi Woolheater & Jatin Nanda

  • 2014

    State Champion
    The Westminster Schools
    Anish Dayal & Harrison Hall

    State Runner Up
    Pace Academy
    Reid Funston & Jacob Queller

  • 2015

    State Champion
    Woodward Academy
    Max Abramson & Crawford Kennedy

    State Runner Up
    Woodward Academy
    Aly Shakoor & Ali Abdullah

  • 2016

    State Champion
    Woodward Academy
    Katherine Herrell & Alanna Pearson

    State Runner Up
    The Westminster Schools
    Manav Daftari & Alex Greene

  • 2017

    State Champion
    Woodward Academy
    Mona Mahadevan & Malachi Robinson

    State Runner Up
    Chattahoochee High School
    Rithvik Nagabhirava & Josh Jeong

  • 2018

    State Champion
    Chattahoochee High School
    Suraj Peramanu & David Hauser

    State Runner Up
    Alpharetta High School
    Shivan Moodley & Suchetas Bokil

  • 2019

    State Champion
    Chattahoochee High School
    Jared Adam & Rohan Manne

    State Runner Up
    Alpharetta High School
    Hargunn Sandhu & Thomas Tokos

  • 2020

    State Champion
    Woodward Academy
    Jackson Hightower & Elizabeth Li

    State Runner Up
    Alpharetta High School
    Rahul Gudapati & Advait Naik

  • 2021

    State Champion
    Decatur High School
    Max Van Kruijssen & Will Kochel

    State Runner Up
    The Westminster Schools
    Brandon Yao & George Jabren

  • 2022

    State Champion
    Northview High School
    Julia Pearson & Ayush Potdar

    State Runner Up
    Woodward Academy
    Alizah Mudaliar & Anjana Murthy

  • 2023

    State Champion
    Alpharetta High School
    Risha Kohli & Neha Mahesh

    State Runner Up
    Northview High School
    Jerry Chen & Aryan Bhattacharya

  • 2024

    State Champion
    Woodward Academy
    Aaly Nanji & Lane Tharp

    State Runner Up
    Johns Creek High School
    Raunak Gupta & Soham Verma

  • 2025

    State Champion
    Woodward Academy
    Rishi Jain & Evie Semaan

    State Runner Up
    Woodward Academy
    Sabina Cross & Hannah Harrison

First Year Division

  • 2011

    State Champion
    Johns Creek High School

    State Runner Up
    Marist School
    Alex Brown & Brendan Phillips

  • 2012

    State Champion
    Pace Academy
    Tanner Lewis & Clyde Shepherd

    State Runner Up
    Alpharetta High School
    Alan Hesu & Aditya Sood

  • 2013

    State Champion
    Pace Academy
    Reid Funston & Ethan Schneider

    State Runner Up
    Alpharetta High School
    Sachin Kasbhatla & Vaibhav Kumar

  • 2014

    State Champion
    Pace Academy
    Christopher Howard & William Movsovitz

    State Runner Up
    Northview High School
    Tarun Ramesh & Ark Angirish

  • 2015

    State Champion
    Woodward Academy
    Katherine Herrell & Alanna Pearson

    State Runner Up
    The Westminster Schools
    Bridgette Boggs & Manav Daftari

  • 2016

    State Champion
    Woodward Academy
    Mona Mahadevan & Malachi Robinson

    State Runner Up
    The Westminster Schools
    Christopher Rascoe & Jackson Kottke

  • 2017

    State Champion
    Chattahoochee High School
    Suraj Peramanu & David Hauser

    State Runner Up
    The Westminster Schools
    George Alford & Holland Bald

  • 2018

    State Champion
    The Westminster Schools
    Eula Doele & Benjamin Sayers

    State Runner Up
    The Westminster Schools
    Aaron Yu & Connor Li

  • 2019

    State Champion
    Woodward Academy
    Jackson Hightower & Mace Hood

    State Runner Up
    Woodward Academy
    Elizabeth Li & Ria Thakur

  • 2020

    State Champion
    Alpharetta High School
    Anish Nayak & Abhiram Dasari

    State Runner Up
    Alpharetta High School
    Anish Thatiparthi & James Chen

  • 2021

    State Champion
    Woodward Academy
    Alizah Mudaliar & Anjana Murthy

    State Runner Up
    Cambridge High School
    Emma Dewey & Pace Gibbs

  • 2022

    State Champion
    Northview High School
    Jerry Chen & Bryant Fu

    State Runner Up
    Woodward Academy
    Lasya Paladugu & Thad Cross

  • 2023

    State Champion
    Marist School
    Michelle Lee & Ephrata Tesfaye

    State Runner Up
    Northview High School
    Sajad Beg & Kento Taylor

  • 2024

    State Champion
    Woodward Academy
    George Sloan & Gianluca Seta

    State Runner Up
    Woodward Academy
    Sabina Cross & Maisie Rainwater

  • 2025

    State Champion
    Woodward Academy
    Aarush Hemachandran & Tim Wang

    State Runner Up
    Alpharetta High School
    Axel Wong & Rhea Shankar