High School

A third year debater questions his opponent during a round at the Rock Creek Tournament. (Photo by Abby Cunningham)

Debate squad prepares for next half

By Abby Cunningham

November 10, 2004

After attending two tournaments this previous weekend, the debate squad now heads into the second half of the season.

They attended the Shawnee Heights and Rock Creek tournaments on Nov. 5 and 6, where they accumulated a combined total of four teams placing.

At Shawnee Heights, partners Alex Oyler, junior, and Nick Miller, sophomore, placed fourth in the varsity circuit, while sophomore teammates Ashley Hanson and Christina Carter took eighth place. Sophomore partners Courtney Brokaw and Donnie Hanson took sixth place in the JV division.

Competing at the Rock Creek tournament, junior Colin Wilstead and senior Shelley McClelland earned fifth place.

Freshmen novices Marshall Wetta and Logan Pegram also attended the Rock Creek tournament in hopes of improving their win-loss record. They competed in the open division, a step up from the divisions in which they have normally been competing. Coach Gail Naylor said she was pleased with the way they performed.

"They rose to the challenge, and I felt like they were holding their own against the competition," she said.

Naylor also said that the squad is trying to accomplish many goals in order to get ready for the next round of competition, which includes a national qualifying tournament and making it to state.

"We're trying to get ready for the national qualifying tournament. We have cases to write and evidence to update. We also are trying to go to tougher tournaments and debate in different divisions to challenge ourselves more. Our goal is to get eight out of the 11(debaters) to state," Naylor said.