NHS grads sweep national debate tourney

Hannah Gross
NLJ Correspondent
 
Since Newcastle High School graduates Markie Whitney and Shelby Davis wrapped up a strong speech and debate career in 2020, the accomplished duo has continued to reel in success at the collegiate level with the Casper College Talking T-Birds. At the International Public Debate portion of the Office Broadway Swing Virtual Forensics Tournament in New York City, the two debaters “closed out” the event by advancing to the final round and taking the overall tournament title, according to Douglas Hall, communication instructor and director of forensics at the college. 
“The fact that they were able to ‘close out’ the tournament as first-year competitors speaks volumes about not only how good they are but how much potential they have for the future,” he said. 
Both Whitney and Davis acknowledged that the collegiate level is vastly different from high school debate, but they enjoy the challenge and everything they’ve learned from it, and Hall added that they’ve grown into “awesome collegiate competitors.” Although no longer debating together but performing individually, the NHS alums still help each other by offering constructive criticism and improving one another. 
“Debating alongside Shelby has always been fun, and I am so glad that we both get to represent our school and our hometown, even still,” Whitney said. “In high school, we were partners, so we knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses very well. We have both grown so much since then and learned new techniques from our coaches.” 
Davis added that they also learn a lot about their different styles of debating, which was made more apparent in college than in high school. Another factor that plays into their success, according to Hall, is their hard work and dedication. 
“Markie and Shelby are both very naturally talented speakers, but they work their tails off both in the classroom and for our team,” Hall
said. “Their consistent success shows as a result of their
hard work.”
Whitney explained that the International Public Debate Association, the program they debate with, only allows a 30-minute notice of what the topic is, which changes every round, and whether they are speaking affirmatively or negatively. In that half-hour, the debaters research and prepare a case. In the finals round, also known as the gold round, Whitney had to debate whether the United Nations should be considered a peacekeeping force, arguing in the affirmative. She knew it would be a challenge because she had to acknowledge that the UN has not always kept the peace, but in the end, her work paid off. 
“Knowing how to research effectively and then quickly comprehending that information are paramount to winning debates. For me, this is where I had a leg up, so to speak, and I think I owe it to the Newcastle Science Department and to my former coach, Mr. Stith, for teaching me research skills that have made me successful,” Whitney said. 
Davis said that preparing something in that short amount of time is stressful at times, and all the work that goes into preparing for a tournament
can be time consuming, including memorization, staying updated on politics and writing up speeches. The team meets for two hours in the afternoon twice a week, as well as with the coach for each event every week, which can quickly add up to nearly every day. But Davis wouldn’t trade it for anything. 
“Speech and debate has changed me as a person, but also changed my pathway as an adult. Speech and debate gave me an activity to do in college and opportunity that I never thought I would get,” Davis said. 
Whitney started her debating career early because her father was the former debate coach at Newcastle High School. Because of her dad’s involvement, Whitney was allowed to come to the speech and debate practices as an elementary student and watch the
high schoolers prepare for competitions. 
“I idolized the high schoolers who were practicing,” Whitney said. “From there, my passion grew, and I consider myself very lucky to have a competitive outlook to practice keeping my mind sharp.”
Because of her friendship with the Whitney family, Davis joined the team after they asked her to participate. 
“I have never been more thankful for them in my life,” Davis said. “I have the privilege of not only debating with my best friend on a high school level, but I also got to go to the same college with her and be on the same team. I have learned a lot from this. … Debate has also changed my perspectives. There are always two sides, two different arguments, two different amounts of evidence to every topic. It also gives you passion and education on what is going on in the world.”
Whitney remembers feeling nervous for her first year as a college debater because, she said, Casper College forensics is a “very competitive and successful team.” However, she channeled her nerves to “fuel (her) drive,” and at her very first meet at the collegiate level, she was a silver medalist in International Public Debate Association debate and accumulated the most speaker points, earning her the honor of “top speaker.” She said she is grateful to her coaches and teammates for pushing her and helping her improve. 
“My favorite part about debating is that no matter what I am debating about, I will always walk away from a debate with new information and sometimes a new perspective,” Whitney said. 
Hall said that, with their talent and work ethic, Davis and Whitney can both be gold medalists at the national tournament in April, and he is optimistic as they head into the second semester, where four international and national tournaments are scheduled. 
“Sky’s the limit for them both,” Hall said. “They’re on track to do really well at both of those tournaments.”