Madison Places Second at State Debate

The MHS Speech and Debate team took second in their division this weekend despite barely sleeping throughout the three-day state tournament.

Senior Nephi Dummar and his sister Sophomore Alexis Dummar were the two most successful debaters on the team, making it to semifinals in the Public Forum debate event. They were debating whether the president currently has too much military power.

“We tried to listen very well and talk with one another so we would be on the same page of what we wanted to attack and how we would attack it,” Alexis said.

In addition to cooperation, the partnership also adopted a very direct strategy in order to appeal to the judges.

“We looked to the constitution and the practical application of its checks and balances in the status quo,” Nephi said .

As an event, debate requires massive amounts of preparation; something that the siblings excel at.

“It was hard that it was the first tournament because we didn’t have very much experience on the topic,” Nephi said.

However, the most challenging thing about the tournament may not have been the new topics.  Alexis said it was actually what happened at the motel. One hotel wifi-hotspot had the name “cheap drugs room 224” and in the middle of the night, some debaters were even awakened by what they assumed to be a drug bust, judging by the screaming and swearing.

“The worst thing about the tournament was the hotel. The hotel was really ghetto and gross. My room had blood stains everywhere and everything was broken. The pillow felt like cottage cheese,” Junior Amber Helfrich said.

Despite the hindrance, the team placed second overall of 5A schools in the state. Other successful debaters include Bethany Abel and Amber Helfrich, Carley Garner and Amberlee Dredge, Brant Lindsey, and Carter Allen (yours truly). The debaters returned home 3:00 AM Sunday morning.

“It was deadening,” Junior Oliver Hancock said.