On Jan. 27, Pace Academy senior debaters Victor Skenderi and Jordan Epstein won Emory University's Barkley Forum, one of the most prestigious events in high school forensic competition.

The tournament, which began in 1956, honors high school students and their teachers for their commitment to forensics achievement. The Barkley Forum annually receives hundreds more applicants than space allows entry and includes more than 1,000 students, teachers, school administrators and college coaches from 35 states. This is only the second time in the tournament's history that Pace has taken the title. The previous victory was in 1978. Pace has been in the finals twice prior to this season, 1992 and 2002.

Skenderi and Epstein’s win continues what has arguably been one of the Pace Academy debate team’s best seasons in recent memory. Epstein and Skenderi finished the fall semester ranked first in the nation, and seniors Paula Cheng and Brian Klarman finished eighth. Pace is the only school in the nation with two teams in the top 10.

Both senior teams will next compete at the Harvard Round Robin and National Invitational in mid-February.