Competing among elite debate teams from various areas of America, one team from Manhattan fought to win.

Placing 32 out of 68, the team of sophomore Lily Colburn and senior Nathan McClendon spent this past weekend in Kansas City, Kan., at the Kansas City, Kansas, Community College tournament.

“We went 3-3, so we won three [and] lost three,” Colburn said. “This [was] a really big tournament, probably one of the largest we’ve been to.”

Competing in Varsity at KCKCC, Colburn and her partner McClendon got a taste of what competing at a higher level of debate was like as well as discover out of state competition.

“[KCKCC] is mostly Kansas teams, but [it] also drew teams from six other states,” coach Ben Sutherland said. “So we got to see a lot of different teams and different styles.”

The singular team also gained the opportunity for better critiques and judging methods at this tournament.

“It’s a more flow judge panel so it’s more judges that have more experience in debate,” Sutherland said. “Which then gives us better feedback on our balance and kids have more freedom to run arguments that they wouldn’t other places, so this was a great critique-friendly place.”

In the end, the tournament was a success for the both of them in both an extension of knowledge and experience.

“It’s definitely one of the better tournaments we’ve been to this year,” Sutherland said. “We’re learning a lot this year, and we’re a young team and we’re hoping to make our best run at both national qualifier and for state and I’m really proud of them.”