With a year of experience under their belts, sophomores Jeremiah Kemboi and Logan Foulkes are wasting no time on their road to State qualification.

Foulkes believes the key to their success is their history together.

"We've known each other for four or five years, so we work well together."

At Campus on Nov. 2, Kemboi and Foulkes only dropped one round in route to a third place medal. In their third tournament together, the sophomore duo only need to place at one more tournament to qualify to the State Debate tournament on Jan. 17-18 at Fort Scott High School.

To qualify for State, a team must attend four tournaments above the novice level and finish with a combined winning record of 50% or better.

"We have a few students who are on the cusp right now. We can take a maximum of four teams to State, and I bet we land with two or three by the time we are done. We have 10 advanced kids total," Debate Coach Melisa Wingfield said.

For many, it's hard to imagine a high schooler being interested or passionate about such an advanced topic. Kemboi, though, understands its importance.

"I'm passionate about it because it's a big issue that affects everyone around the world," he said.

Foulkes, too, believes it's "something that's not right in the world."

"It needs to be fixed, and for high schoolers to be debating it helps educate us more so when we get older, we have a better idea of what's going on and how to fix it."

Their passion has paved the way for them so far, and with six more tournaments on the schedule, their dream of a State berth is only a matter of time.