High School Team’s Success Undebatable

You don’t want to get into an argument with Chris McFarlane or Jesse Dixon--they have been using debate opponents as verbal punching bags all year.

McFarlane, 17, and Dixon, 16, are members of the Notre Dame High School debate team, and it is hard to argue with their success--most recently an eighth-place finish out of 120 teams in a national competition held in Texas.

With that finish, the duo qualified for the national tournament of champions to be held in April at the University of Kentucky at Lexington. The Kentucky tournament is considered by many to be the most prestigious high school debate competition in the nation, said Michael Shortnacy, 23, the debate coach.

“It’s been an amazing run,” Shortnacy said. “These guys are possibly the best ever from our school.”

McFarlane, a senior, and Dixon, a junior, have finished in the top 10 teams in all four tournaments they have entered this season. Last year, the duo became the first underclassmen in Southern California high school debate history to qualify for the National Forensic League Championship.

McFarlane said the key to their success is keeping things simple.

“A lot of teams take on these huge issues,” McFarlane said. “We try to be down to earth and pick topics people can relate to.”

This year, the team has been arguing about ways to increase the use of renewable energy in an effort to decrease pollution.

“It’s important to just talk to people in a conversational way,” Dixon said. “We try and keep it as informal as possible.”

Success in the Notre Dame debate program is not limited to McFarlane and Dixon, Shortnacy said. Other teams in the 60-member squad have also performed well in national tournaments, with one finishing eighth at a tournament in New York City. Shortnacy said he expects the trend to continue this weekend at a tournament at USC.

“The school’s success has a lot to do with the coaching. We have three USC guys come here and work with the students every day,” Shortnacy said. “But the students themselves deserve a lot of credit. No one works harder than they do.”