History of Jay Debate:

Jefferson City High School has been providing students the opportunities of developing their voices through competitive speech and debate  since 1996. Each student has the unique experience of traveling across the country to compete against other bright, young scholars. Some even get the opportunity, if they qualify, to travel to compete at two National Tournaments throughout the year: the National Catholic Forensics League (NCFL) Tournament and the National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) Tournament. These two events bring in over 400 schools from across the country. Only the best and brightest achieve this great honor. 

This page is dedicated to those bright, young scholars. They are hereby inducted into our Debate Team's Hall of Fame. To qualify for the team's hall of fame, they must accomplish at least one of the following criteria:

1. Qualify to Nationals as a Freshman
2. Qualify to Nationals all four years while participating in Speech & Debate
3. Advance to the Top 32 in their event at either the NCFL National Tournament or NSDA National Tournament
4. Achieve at least 2000 NSDA points by the time they graduate from the program

The current coach has been with the program for several years and has attempted to uncover members who have achieved this milestone. If you are an alum or a parent of an alum who believe they have reached this milestone, please email Coach Hart. The individuals listed below are in chronological order.

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HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES

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Meredith Manda (2015 alum)

• Valedictorian of the 2015 Graduating Class
• Advanced to Round 11 (Top 30) as a Senior in Public Forum at NSDA (2015)
• Advanced to Round 10 (Top 45) as a Junior in Public Forum at NSDA (2014)
• Advanced to Semifinals in Congress as a Sophomore at NSDA (2013)
• Qualified to NSDA Nationals Three Years
• Qualified to MSHSAA State One Time in Public Forum
• Served as Team President in 2015 with her Debate Partner, Sabrina Tannehill
• Graduated from Stanford University
• Currently attends Harvard Law School

Sabrina Tannehill (2015 Alum)

• Advanced to Round 11 (Top 30) as a Senior in Public Forum at NSDA (2015)
• Advanced to Round 10 (Top 45) as a Junior in Public Forum at NSDA (2014)
• Qualified to NSDA Nationals Two Years
• Qualified to MSHSAA State One Time in Public Forum
• Served as Team President in 2015 with her Debate Partner, Meredith Manda
• Graduated from Washington University
• Currently lives in Copenhagen, Denmark

Kyle craft (2016 alum)

• ​Advanced to the Top 32 in Policy Debate as a Junior at NCFL Nationals (2015)
• Advanced to the Top 32 in Policy Debate as a Senior at NCFL Nationals (2016)
• Qualified to NSDA Nationals two years
• Qualified to MSHSAA State Twice in Policy Debate
• Served as Team President in 2015
• Attends University of Missouri-Rolla

Lucy Liao (2017 alum)

• Advanced to the Top 32 in Policy Debate as a Junior at NCFL Nationals (2016)
• Advanced to the Top 32 in Policy Debate as a Senior at NCFL Nationals (2017)
• Qualified to Nationals two years
• Qualified to MSHSAA State Twice in Policy Debate
• Served as Team President in 2016
• Attends Massachusetts Institute of Technology

​Spenser Bartholomew (2018 alum)

• Qualified to NSDA Nationals as a Freshman in Dramatic Interpretation (2015)
• Qualified to MSHSAA State Three Times (Twice in Dramatic Interp and Once in Storytelling)
• Attends Missouri State University

​Burke Craighead (2018 alum)

• Qualified to NSDA Nationals in Three Times (Twice in Foreign Extemp and Once in Policy Debate)
• Qualified to MSHSAA State in Foreign Extemp Three Times
• Currently attends Baylor University

Mitchell Huston (2018 alum)

• Finished Second Place at NSDA Nationals in Prose Interpretation (2017)
• Advanced to Top 60 at Nationals in Dramatic Interp (2018)
• Qualified to NSDA Nationals Twice (Once in Humorous Interp and Once in Dramatic Interp)
• Qualified to MSHSAA State Once in Prose
• Currently attends and competes at Southwest Baptist University

​Michael Manda (2018 alum)

• Qualified ALL FOUR YEARS to NSDA Nationals (Once in Congress, Twice in Lincoln-Douglas, and Once in Policy)
• Finished in the Top 14 at NSDA Nationals as a Senior in Policy Debate (2018)
• Qualified to MSHSAA State Tournament Twice (Once in Lincoln Douglas and Once in US Extemp)
• Served as Team President in  2018
• Currently attends Dartmouth University

​Hunter Middleton (2018 alum)

• Finished in Top 16 as a Senior in Policy at the NCFL National Tournament (2018)
• Qualified to NSDA Nationals Once in US Extemp
• Currently attends Missouri State University

 ​Michael Waggoner (2018 Alum)

• Finished in the Top 14 as a Senior in Policy at the NSDA National Tournament (2018)
• Finished in Top 16 as a Senior in Policy at the NCFL National Tournament (2018)
• Finished in the Top 32 as a Junior in Policy at the NCFL National Tournament (2017)
• Qualified to NSDA Nationals Twice in Policy
• Qualified to MSHSAA State Once in Policy
• Currently attends Missouri State University

Yolanda Martin (2019 Alum)

• Finished Sixth Place at the NCFL National Tournament in Dramatic Interpretation (2019)
• Qualified to MSHSAA State Once in Dramatic Interpretation
• Currently attends Lincoln University

​Leticia Nketiah (2019 Alum)

• Finished Fourth Place at the NSDA National Tournament in Original Oratory (2019)
• Finished Fifth Place at the NSDA National Tournament in Original Oratory (2018)
• Semifinalist at the NCFL National Tournament in Original Oratory (2019)
• Semifinalist at the NCFL National Tournament in Original Oratory (2018)
• Qualified to NSDA Nationals Three Times in Original Oratory
• Qualified to MSHSAA State Twice in Original Oratory
• Served as Team President in 2019
• Currently attends The Ohio State University