Parsons High School’s debate team closed out its 2024 season with a second-place finish in the Class 4A State Tournament Jan. 17-18.
PHS qualified teams to compete in the 2-Speaker Debate and 4-Speaker Debate.
Team captain and anchor Madelyn Armitage and her partner Makenzi Taliaferro finished second in 2-speaker.
”They went against the best of the best and finished 7-2 in second place,” PHS debate/forensics coach Ed Workman said.
Armitage said she was happy to finish out her senior year with a second-place win at state.
“We discussed that. Of all the ways this could end, it’s pretty good,” Workman said. “They lost the final round 2-1.”
“Madelyn and Makenzi would have been the backbone of the 4-Speaker, but, especially this year, she deserved the chance for her and her partner to go on their own and see what they can do,” Workman said. “It obviously worked out.”
This left the 4-Speaker team consisting more of novice freshmen and sophomores. They finished at state in the middle of the pack.
Next year will be more of a challenge with the loss of the senior leadership in debate.
“Hopefully a few of your teammates will look at how you prepared at state and compare it to how they prepared and decide to do things more your way next time,” Workman said to Armitage. “When I was in college, my debate coach was always fond of saying that the more he practiced, the more he researched and the more he did, the luckier he got, because everyone would always tell him, ‘Man, you’re so lucky. You always win. You always pull it out.’ He would say, ‘Yeah, it’s the darndest thing. The harder I work, the more I do, the luckier I get.’ It’s crazy how that works.”
