Members of the debate team will compete in national qualifiers from Feb. 15-19. Placing top three in their event will give them the opportunity to compete in nationals over the summer.
“National qualifiers is such a fantastic tournament with tremendous energy,” speech and debate coach Rory McKenzie said. “It truly brings together the best students from our region and they’re all competing for a spot at the national championship tournament.”
The debate members in national qualifiers are junior Flor Mendez, sophomores Diya Patel, Madison Barnes, Odin Burks, Hailey Macculous, Kylon Kincade, Deuce Chambers, and freshmen Ethan Barchak, Conner Stevens, and Audrey Ratcliff.
“It’s an honor to compete at national qualifiers a second time,” Kincade said. “It is a great spotlight for all groups in speech and debate. I hope and pray that our whole group can make it to nationals this year and can’t wait for Iowa.”
Debaters are eligible to go into national qualifiers if they have over 25 national speech and debate association (NSDA) merit points. The NSDA creates standards for national competitions and debaters receive points by placing in their event.
“It’s an incredible accomplishment,” Maccalous said. “Collecting over 400 merit points so quickly is not easily done. I’m so proud of the whole debate team, regardless of merit points, in this aspect.”
The tournament is four days long but each day is separated by events. On the first day, there will be Congress, interpretations, and platforms. During Congress, debaters will debate pieces of legislation such as bills.
“I feel like I have a lot of potential in debate,” Burks said. “I’m hoping to capitalize on this opportunity I’ve been given and hopefully qualify for the national competition to compete over the summer.”
On the second day, there will be extemporaneous speech and debate preliminary rounds and elimination rounds will take place on the next day. During the last day, debaters will argue over the Big Questions.
“Going into it, we just want to do our best and enjoy the process,” McKenzie said. “Our students are persuading, advocating, and making poignant points that an audience gets to hear. That’s a win no matter the final result.”
