Marble Falls High School debate duo headed to state
MARBLE FALLS — Marble Falls High School students Colton Davis and Lynnrae Smith are headed to the University Interscholastic state cross-examination debate championships at the University of Texas March 16-17.
Qualifying for the state meet in Austin is quite a change from when Smith, a senior, first began debating as a freshman.
“After that first debate, (the judge) told me I should quit,” Smith said. “They thought I was that bad.”
PHOTO: Marble Falls High School students Colton Davis and Lynnrae Smith are headed to the state University Interscholastic League debate championships in Austin March 16-17. The duo won four of five rounds Jan. 30 during the District 25-4A tournament at Dripping Springs High School to earn a state spot. Staff photo by Daniel Clifton
On Jan. 30, Smith and his debate partner Davis won four of their five debate rounds during the District 25-4A championship at Dripping Springs High School.
“Everybody was telling me I can’t and I wanted to prove them we can,” Smith said.
The topic this year is: “The United States Federal Government should substantially increase its exploration and/or development of space beyond the Earth’s mesosphere.”
In what’s called a cross-examination debate, the team will likely find themselves both arguing for and against the resolution.
“We probably have thousands of pieces of papers through researching this,” Davis said.
“It got to the point when we walked in the library, the librarians hated to see us coming,” Smith said.
With a few more weeks to prepare, the two aren’t taking things easy. They plan to double their efforts — even though it means giving up their Spring Break trips.
“You have to be willing to do what it takes to win,” Smith said.
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
