A Hutchinson High School debate team made Kansas debate history by finishing high enough to automatically qualify for the 2014 national tournament.
Brett Krambeer and Reed Crater placed eighth in policy debate at the 2013 National Forensics League National Tournament last week at Birmingham, Alabama. The two were the only underclassmen in the top 14 nationally. As a result, Crater and Krambeer have auto-qualified for next year’s national tournament in Kansas City. The finish also was the highest for Hutch High since 1997 and the highest NFL finish for a Kansas team this year.
This is the first time a Kansas policy debate team has auto-qualified for nationals. As a result, the two will not have to qualify at the West Kansas NFL District Tournament in December, and the team will be in addition to other teams that qualify out of the district tourney.
The team of senior T.J. Blake and sophomore LaKiyah Sain placed 16th at the tournament, the second highest placing of a Kansas team. The school was one of only two schools nationally to have two teams in the top 16 of nationals.
The team of Sydni Huxman and Brennan Schartz, both sophomores, were a top 50 finisher in policy debate. It was the highest placing of a sophomore team in nationals.
The NFL tournament was the first time for HHS to break three teams to elimination rounds since 1997, and Hutch was the only school to break three teams to elimination rounds in 2013.
Additionally, Blake was a four-time national qualifier at NFL, the only one from Kansas in 2013 and one of only 30 nationally.
Hutch High also received a School of Excellence in debate – the top 20 debate schools in the country are awarded this based on participation in the national tournament.
In all, the tournament drew 420 schools, 213 policy debate teams and more than 4,000 individual competitors.
They also competed at the National Catholic Forensics League Grand National Tournament over Memorial Day weekend. Crater and Krambeer were quarterfinalists in the tournament, placing in the top eight, while Sain and Blake were double octafinalists, placing in the top 32 nationally. In all, there were 195 policy debate teams at the NCFL Tournament in Philadelphia.