Manhattan High Debate is entering the second half of the season with momentum. The team has seen success across the board thus far, finishing on the podium in many tournaments. 

“[The season] has been really good,” head debate coach Mac Phrommany said. “We go into a lot of the same tournaments that we do every single year and this year, we found more competitive success than we had last year.”

This competitive success has been evident, as the group has placed second or better in their last four tournaments. This includes a first-place finish at the Rock Creek Invitational, Seaman High School Invitational and Topeka High tournament last weekend. Most notably, however, was an astounding second-place finish at Blue Valley North. Phrommany was especially pleased with his team’s performance, acknowledging that the KC-area schools are one of the best in the nation. 

“The Blue Valley School District is best in the nation competitively on the national circuit,” Phrommany said. “Us being able to place against those Blue Valley Schools looks really good for us for the upcoming state tournament.”

Consistency across all divisions has helped the team reach these milestones early in the season. Stellar performances from seniors Allie Cloyd and Sydney Vahl in the open division as well as sophomore Ayla Price and senior Kate Anderson in the novice division have propelled the team to top finishes. 

“Every single tournament I think we either placed first or second,” senior Helinna Bontrager said. “We’ve had multiple breaks, especially in the open division and our novices are doing better than they have done at any year [prior].”

As the season winds down, Phrommany hopes to finish the season strong and prepare for state. 

“We are hopefully going to make some big splashes at the state tournaments,” Phrommany said. “Right now, we are kind of planning backwards with our goals and figuring out who our state teams are going to be at the end of the season come January, and figuring out what the strategies are for other schools and prepping for the state tournaments.”

The team is set to compete at Topeka West this weekend, followed by Shawnee Heights and Emporia before hosting their home meet here at the high school on Nov. 11.