Brianna Carillo (left) and Michelle Lin (right) will represent Marshall High School at the 100th National Speech and Debate Association tournament June 15-20 in Des Moines. (Photos courtesy of Paul Gieringer)

Marshall High School will have two students compete later this month at the 100th National Speech and Debate Association tournament in Des Moines.

Senior Michelle Lin took top honors in Lincoln-Douglas Debate at the Heart of America Regional in March. She tells KMMO News that she’s been hard at work preparing for nationals, knowing that it’d be her last tournament as a high school competitor.

Lin battled back from an opening round loss to finish first out of 64 competitors. She’ll be joined by sophomore Brianna Carillo, who finished second at districts out of 40 competitors in program interpretation. Carillo says it’s an honor to make it to nationals in her first year with the program.

Lin and Carillo are the first students from Marshall High School’s speech and debate program to compete at nationals in 18 years. When they compete in Des Moines beginning June 15, they’ll bring the total number of Marshall students who have competed at nationals to 25, including 13 under the direction of longtime program coach Paul Gieringer.