Muldrow students prepare for National speech and debate tournament

Speech and debate is a program that has long taught high school students to feel confident in their speaking abilities — one suit at a time. Muldrow’s speech and debate program is no exception, as the team is the current state runner-up, after its state championship in 2023.

Continuing its legacy of greatness, Muldrow is sending four exceptional students to the National speech and debate tournament in Des Moines, Iowa, from June 1621. The students — Mason Brignac, Lily Gibson, Nick Rhodes and Ella Webster — qualified for Nationals through their performances in previous tournaments throughout the year.

Gibson and Rhodes, both 2024 graduates, are ecstatic about their chance to show off their duo performance in Iowa. Rhodes says that he is excited for his first duo event to make it to the biggest tournament of the year. Gibson says that she is “feeling the most confident that [she has] ever felt.” The duo says that they plan to shock competitors and judges alike with the turnaround in their performance.

Webster, a 2024 graduate, and Brignac, an incoming senior, are also working hard for their chance at making it to the finals stage at Nationals.

When asked about the preparation for Nationals, Webster — competing in prose — says that she is “preparing and getting as many reps in as [she] can.”

As she returns to Nationals for the third and final time, Webster states that she knows what to expect and is excited to compete at the highest level one more time. Brignac — competing in both prose and storytelling — says that there have been “a lot of late nights at the speech building” as he gets his events competition ready.

Brignac reveals that he only found out that he would be attending Nationals about a month before the tournament takes place; he says that this has made him work harder than he ever has in this extracurricular.

Muldrow speech coach Chris Larcade says “as coaches, we’re trying to provide them with the best opportunities for success to help them go into Nationals feeling confident.”

Larcade says that in the midst of a crazy year, “[the students] put in a lot of hours of work and preparation time.” These hard-working students are suiting up to make a great impression on their quest for success.