Emporia High school debaters Chase Ihde and Erica Bennett dominated competition at the Manhattan Invitational Debate Tournament with an 8-0 record and a first-place finish in the varsity division.
EHS debaters Chase Miller and Ethan Schweinler placed third. Freshmen Hannah Watkins and Kathryn Scherich placed 4th with a 4-1 record.
Emporia also captured the team sweepstakes trophy as best overall school in the competition.
At Kansas City Piper High School, Tom Emley and Jordan Edwards tied for second with a 4-1 record.
Mary Yanik and Alex Bonnet traveled to St. Marks School in Dallas, Texas, where they were among 96 top debate teams across the nation. The pair won three of its debates before losing to Westminster School of Atlanta, Ga., which went undefeated through the tournament to take first place.
Scott Bonnet, EHS director of debate, was pleased with the team’s performance in Texas, and even more pleased that the team qualified to compete.
“We were one of the only public schools in the tournament,” Bonnet said. “It was almost all really high-priced prep schools.”