Markley "Races" to Nationals
Indianapolis, Indiana. Home of the famous Indianapolis 500. This summer, Indianapolis is home to another of America's great competitive events: the 2012 National Forensic League National Tournament. Over 2,000 student competitors from all 50 states will converge on the city June 10-15 to compete in the week-long tournament. Southeast High School sophomore, Jessica Markley, will be there having qualified for nationals in only her second year of competitive speech and debate.
Jessica won her trip to the national tournament with her 2nd place finish in United States Extemporaneous Speaking at the South Kansas NFL district tournament in Coffeyville on April 20-21. After two preliminary rounds, Jessica was one of three Southeast students to advance to the semifinal round of competition. Following a strong performance in semifinals, Jessica broke to the final round as the third-seeded speaker. Jessica saved her best for last as two of the five judges in finals ranked her as the best speaker in the round. Jessica finished in 2nd place, behind a four-year senior from Coffeyville, thus qualifying her to compete at Indianapolis this summer.
Jessica has had a strong spring semester. After rediscovering her love for Congressional Debate, she nearly qualified to nationals in that event back in March. She's been successful in extemp at several tournaments this forensics season, and that has really boosted her confidence. Qualifying for nationals is both an awesome reward for her efforts, as well as a catalyst for the future. If she puts in the kind of work she needs to do to get better, she is capable of doing even more amazing things over the next two years. Way to go, Jessica!
