Lincoln Douglas debaters also defend both sides of the topic during a tournament. In the Lincoln Douglas debate competition, Eagan High junior Maya Babu won her first state championship. According to EHS debate coach Jason Sellars, Babu has consistently been Eagan s best Lincoln Douglas debater this year and entered the state tournament ranked first in her region. Sellars added that what may be even more impressive than EHS sweeping both titles at the tournament is the fact that the team almost closed out the final round of policy debate. At EHS, the debate season began the first weekend of September with a competition in Wake Forest, Ill., Sellars said.
Students usually practice every day after school in preparation for weekend competitions.
Like many other schools, the EHS debate team competes in both local tournaments and national circuit tournaments. The season will wrap up in mid-June at the national tournament. Over the summer, several debate team members will continue sharpening their skills by attending debate camps. Senior Andy Martin along with his teammate David Coates finished as quarterfinalists in policy debate at state. Although they never won a state title together, this was the third consecutive year that the policy team of Martin and Coates finished in the top four in the state.