After going to to the Inland Empire National Qualifier in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho, seniors Serena Fitzgerald, Ashley Techavimol, Kiana Wilson and Wallace O’Donnell qualified for debate Nationals. Junior Abby Davison is a first alternate for Nationals. Nationals will be held in Dallas this summer.

With only eight members the WHS Speech and Debate team is dwarfed by some out-of-state teams that send 30 to 40 students to nationals, compared to our four National qualifiers. However, Wenatchee did qualify 50 percent of their members and the WHS team has never qualified this many students for Nationals.

“[This year] we probably have one of the smaller teams that I’ve ever had. About eight regular students, and yet they are probably the most successful as group because they are all powerhouse performers, and it really shows when they compete,” WHS Debate Coach Dave Carlson said.

Fitzgerald has been competing in debate since eighth grade, and enjoys it so much that she is trying to get a middle school debate team started.

Fitzgerald qualified for Nationals for her first time this year. She will be competing in the the oratory category. For this competition, contestants have a 10 minute memorized speech that they present to judges.

“I wrote [the speech] in September and I’ve been continually perfecting both what the speech says and how I present it,” Fitzgerald said. “[The speech is] about gender and how we address that as a society.”

Fitzgerald is looking forward to Nationals, and the social aspect of the competitions.

“I’m really excited, I have a lot of important bonds both with my people on my team and with people on other teams, it’s a very important activity for all of us,” Fitzgerald said.

The entire WHS Speech and Debate team will be competing at the WIAA State Forensics Tournament in March.

Carlson has been coaching debate for 19 years, as long as he has been teaching at WHS. Carlson also competed in debate in college. Brian Higgins serves as assistant coach.

“It was almost hard being a coach and not being out there competing, but those days are over,” said Carlson.

Qualifying for Nationals is competitive, with 10 to 20 students competing for the two qualifying spots. Nationals is even more competitive with 250 students competing in each category. The top speakers not only get a trophy, but also receive a $5,000 scholarship.

“It can be pretty demanding to get in those top two (spots),” Carlson said. “Nationals is worse, they basically take the top 250 students in each event in the country and you have to finish in the top 60 to move on. You pretty much have to be first or second each time you speak to even have a chance at making it to that top 60. I don’t think anybody from Washington has even made it to the top 30 (at Nationals).”

The team competes two to three times per month. Competitions range from Othello to Seattle, which means a lot of traveling, and is tough on the club’s budget.

“Technically our district runs from the Canadian border all the way down to Walla Walla, so it’s a lot of driving; you do what you have to do,” Carlson said.

Students interested in joining the Speech and Debate team should contact Carlson, Higgins or any of the current club members. The team meets after school Tuesdays and Thursdays.