The month of April held many moments of success for the Manhattan High Debate and Forensics teams.

On the fourth, 11 student congress and senate members gathered to head to Junction City for the final tournament to determine who qualified for Nationals in the Flint Hills District.

After competing all day, at 8 p.m. the winners were announced. Seniors Nathan McClendon and Sterling Edgar both won first in their respective houses — McClendon in Congress and Edgar in Senate — and qualified to continue on to Nationals. Sophomore Douglas Kim also placed fifth in the House Super Sessions, which qualified him as a second alternate to the national tournament.

“It was a very successful national qualifier,” coach Ben Sutherland said. “The contributions of every single kid … made a critical difference.”

Also attending the tournament, but not placing, was freshman Blaise Hayden, sophomores Lily Colburn, Rain Raite, Elizabeth Alexander, junior Michael Boller and seniors Spencer Parish, Cathy Lei and Caitlyn Rusk.

“Every single kid was critical … to our team,” Sutherland said. “[I’m] very proud of these kids and their capacity to punch far above their weight class. These kids made the magic happen.”

As a twist in the end, Manhattan High — with the smallest number of Debate attendees — was awarded first in the School Sweepstakes, winning the 2016 Flint Hills National Scholastic Debate Association Congressional National Qualifier.

“A lot of folks worked hard for this win,” Sutherland said. “A big thank you to Kristal Kleiner, our assistant coach, and Lily Colburn, one of our most important team leaders, for so much they did to organize and strategize … Their efforts made quiet but critical contributions to our win … and to making our team a team throughout the year. And our entire team owes a debt of gratitude to our former coach, Shawn Rafferty, for everything he’s done to build up these kids and this team into the powerful Congress team they are today.”

Then, on the 16 Sutherland took Forensic competitors to their own national qualifiers. McClendon qualified in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking and Original Oration at this tournament while Edgar qualified in International Extemporaneous Speaking. Also qualifying was senior Toula Sweeney who gained the qualification in Humorous Interpretation.

“It should be a competitive slate, this year, at Nationals,” Sutherland said. “I’m looking forward [to it].”

In the end, McClendon will be competing in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking at Nationals while Kim will take his place in Congress Nationals. Edgar will compete in International Extemporaneous which will allow a competitor from Shawnee Heights to attend Senate at Nationals and Sweeney will compete in Humorous Interpretation.

“[The tournament] was probably our most competitive team win,” Sutherland said. “[The students] have a lot to be proud of, I think.”