Milbank Debaters Prepare for National-Qualifying Tournament

The Bulldog debaters will be in Sioux Falls and Brandnon from  February 20-21 to determine who will compete in the 2026 National Speech and Debate Tournament to be held in Richmond, Virginia from June 14-19.  

South Dakota is divided into two districts: Rushmore and Northern. Milbank belongs to the Northern District that also includes schools in Aberdeen, Brookings, Huron, Lennox, Mitchell, Tea, and Watertown. 

Kathy Tyler, head coach for Milbank, commented on the upcoming national-qualifying tournament next weekend, “Because of the setup, it’s a long, grueling tournament of nine rounds for the winning debaters.” 

The MHS debate team ended its regular season at the Rushmore Tournament in Harrisburg on Friday and Saturday, February 13-14. Competition included schools from Aberdeen, Brookings, Dakota Valley, Harrisburg. Huron, Lennox,  Rapid City Stevens, Tea, and Watertown.

Illness and prior commitments prevented the entire Milbank team from making the trip. However,four debaters did their utmost to represent the Bulldogs. Freshman Kinley VanHoorn stepped up to the plate as a maverick. She debated alone in the Public Forum division. Mavericks were not eligible to win their round, but Kinley pulled out all the stops to place first overall in speaker points.

The Public Forum team of Camron Graham and Elexia Quintanilla missed the quarter finals by just 1.5 speaker points out of a possible 180 points. They placed ninth. Tate Pew participated in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking and Lincoln-Douglas Debate.