DES MOINES, IOWA – The National Speech & Debate Association (NSDA) is proud to announce the newest high school National Speech and Debate Champions. Following a week of exceptional competition at the National Speech and Debate Tournament in Birmingham, Alabama – the following high school students have been crowned 2017 National Speech & Debate Champions, winning more than $200,000 in scholarships.

“Our national champions are the future leaders of our country,” said J. Scott Wunn, Executive Director of the National Speech & Debate Association. “These students not only have extraordinary talent, but they are passionate, smart, dedicated, and hard working. We’re extremely proud of their accomplishments and look forward to all of the great things they do in the future.”

With 4-thousand high school students from across the country competing, the National Speech and Debate Tournament is the largest academic competition in the world. From more than 150-thousand student members, only 3% qualify to compete at Nationals. Less than 1% of speech and debate students can call themselves a national champion.

2017 NSDA High School Speech and Debate National Champions:

BIG QUESTIONS DEBATE
Xavior Lewis
Lee’s Summit North High School - Lee’s Summit, Missouri
Coached by Benjamin D. Jewell

CONGRESSIONAL DEBATE HOUSE
Jacob Cimerberg
Western High School – Davie, Florida
Coached by Nancy Unger Dean and Dario Camara

CONGRESSIONAL DEBATE SENATE
Gregory Seabrooks
Oxbridge Academy of the Palm Beaches – West Palm Beach, Florida
Coached by David Childree

DRAMATIC INTERPRETATION

Chase Garrett
Southside High School – Greenville, South Carolina
Coached by Jason Eric Johnson and Weslica Johnson

DUO INTERPRETATION
Kerrington Anderson and Derek Collins
Hattiesburg High School – Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Coached by Raphael Scott Waldrop

AND

Claire Doty and Zakkiyah Sanders
Apple Valley High School – Apple Valley, Minnesota
Coached by Dan Hodges

HUMOROUS INTERPRETATION
Evan Eiglarsh
NSU University School – Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Coached by Bill M. Thompson, Danny Swerdlow, and Robert Sheard

INFORMATIVE SPEAKING
Matthew Nadel
Dreyfoos School of the Arts – West Palm Beach, Florida
Coached by Angela Anyzeski

INTERNATIONAL EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEAKING
Connor Rothschild
Kickapoo High School – Springfield, Missouri
Coached by Jon Marc Baney

LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE
Natalie Schaller
Liberty Sr. High School – Liberty, Missouri
Coached by Tim Baldwin

ORIGINAL ORATORY

JJ Kapur
West Des Moines Valley High School - West Des Moines, Iowa
Coached by David McGinnis

POLICY DEBATE
Raam Tambe and Jerry Wang
Palos Verdes Peninsula High School – Rolling Hills Estates, California
Coached by Scott Wheeler

PROGRAM ORAL INTERPRETATION
Quest Broussard
Comeaux High School – Lafayette, Louisiana
Coached by Jacob Simon

PUBLIC FORUM DEBATE
Cornelia Fraser and Rafey Khan
Nova High School – Davie, Florida
Coached by Christopher Relyea