MHS Debaters Win Second at 31st Annual McGovern Tourney

Milbank debaters brought home the second-place trophy in Class A from the 31st Annual McGovern Tournament held November 17-18 in Mitchell. Beresford claimed the first-place trophy. Dakota Valley took third-place honors.

Bri Hicks led the Bulldogs by placing third in a field of 15 in novice Lincoln-Douglas debate. The duo of Dane Anderson and Preston Laskowske placed fourth from amongst 20 teams in JV Public Forum. Max Schuelke missed fourth place by one speaker point in the varsity Lincoln-Douglas competition.

Jenna Korstjens achieved a perfect speaker score of 30 in one of her two winning novice Public Forum rounds. Her partner was Taylor Hallquist. Izabella Hallquist earned  a 2-3 record in novice Lincoln-Douglas. The duos of Qualon Grant and Camron Graham and Even Kretzschmar and Rylen Frerichs finished with records of 1-4 in varsity and JV Public Forum respectively.

In the non-debate events, Keira Steffen placed tenth in Congressional Debate. MHS coach, Kathy Tyler, said, “That’s very good. She was a novice competing with varsity congress members.” Non-debate event entries also included Grant, Graham, Ixtal Macia, and Anderson in Informative Oratory, and Ruth Luis-Gomez in Original Oratory.

What’s next for the Bulldogs? The Brookings Bell Tournament is December 15-16. Tyler says, “All debate class participants are required to attend—it’s part of their final test. But don’t worry, they will be well prepared! Of course, the non-class debaters will be participating also.”

Submitted Photo: Preston Laskoske. Bri Hicks, Dane Anderson