The Pine has been rolling on with success in recent weeks as the Panther’s basketball team won their state championship, and recently the forensics team has also caught on the championship wave.  After consulting with certain members of the forensics team, there seemed to be a lot of controversy as to why I was writing this article under the News section and not the Sports section.  After all, debate IS a sport, right?  They compete for a championship, they work together as a team, and they have many strenuous practices after school consisting of numerous push-ups, heavy weight-lifting, and intense speed reading.  Regardless, the team had a very successful season, led by seniors Matt Marcus, David Rubin, Alex Fields and Bijan Abae.  Also on the team are juniors Mark Bibas and Noah Grass, as well as sophomores Michael Marcus, Eric Marcus, Joel Levy, Michael McCue, Julian Gruber, David Goldstein, Sid Jain and Ashcon Abae.  The Panthers earned a state title led by the team of Matt Marcus and Mark Bibas as well as the championship for Dramatic Interpretation won by Bijan Abae.  One of the remarkable things about the team’s win was the fact that Mark joined the team mid-season, after starting the school year at Gulliver Prep.  On asking Mark why he decided to return to the Pine, he said, “I missed the strong academics and interesting classes at Pine Crest, but most of all, I missed my friends.”  Mark and the debate team had high expectations for the season, but they remained confident and cool throughout their most challenging moments.  While the debate team may not be recognized in the sports assemblies or have a huge crowd to support them at their matches, their amazing accomplishments and huge state championship wins deserve commendable recognition.