Team History

Murrah High School has competed in Speech & Debate since at least the 1968-1969 school year when Doug Campbell, Charles Garvin, Zachary Taylor, and Steve McDonald were national qualifiers in Policy Debate. 

The current incarnation of the Mustang Speech & Debate team was started in 2008 under coach Mrs. Sonya Harvey. The bar for success was soon set sky-high by two-time NSDA national qualifiers and elimination round debaters in Public Forum, Justin Porter & Carlos Rucker (2011-2012). Murrah’s team has qualified students to nationals every year since. Nine students from Murrah have won MHSAA State Championships, and 19 have been awarded Academic All-American by the NSDA. 

Since 2008, over 200 students have participated on the team. Alumni attend or have attended (an incomplete list): Jackson State, Tougaloo, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Southern Miss, Millsaps, Rhodes, Xavier, Tulane, Davidson, Dillard, North Carolina A&T, Hampton, Tuskegee, Alabama State, Alabama A&M, UNLV, Rice, USC, Knox, Marist, Washington-St. Louis, MIT, Harvard, and Yale.

The current head coach is Mr. Micah Everson.

2025 NSDA National Qualifiers

Clarissa Coleman - Lincoln-Douglas Debate

Miles Hansen & Roscoe Levanway - Public Forum Debate

2025 NCFL National Qualifiers

Riley Cloyd - Prose & Poetry Interpretation

Clarissa Coleman - Lincoln-Douglas Debate

Madison Cormack - Original Oratory

Miles Hansen & Roscoe Levanway - Public Forum Debate

Brooklynn Jefferson - Declamation

Donald Jordan, III - Extemporaneous Speaking

Zeniah McElroy - Congressional Debate

Theodore Milnor - Dramatic Performance

Heidi Navas-Salazar - Declamation

Ava Reed - Prose & Poetry Interpretation

Jeremy White - Declamation

2025 MHSAA State Qualifiers

Paige Barker - Lincoln-Douglas, Prose

Riley Cloyd - Prose, Poetry

Clarissa Coleman - Extemporaneous, Impromptu, Lincoln-Douglas

Madison Cormack - Impromptu, Lincoln-Douglas, Oratory

Miles Hansen - Extemporaneous, Impromptu, Oratory, Public Forum

Brooklynn Jefferson - Declamation

Donald Jordan, III - Lincoln-Douglas

Roscoe Levanway - Extemporaneous, Informative, Public Forum

Zeniah McElroy - Lincoln-Douglas, Program Oral Interp

Theodore Milnor - Program Oral Interp, Oratory, Dramatic Interp

Ava Reed - Declamation, Prose, Poetry

Raegan Spencer - Prose

Jeremy White - Declamation, Impromptu

9 MHSAA State 

Event Championships

19 NSDA Academic All-Americans

Class of 2026: Clarissa Coleman

Class of 2024: Hart Jefferson, Sylvia Kassoff

C/o 2023: Aaron Araujo

C/o 2022: Parker Hansen

C/o 2020: Maisie Brown; Jeffrey Caliedo; Jessie James, III; Zamari Morris; Evan Morrisey; Abigail Showalter

C/o 2019: Matthew Araujo

C/o 2018: Justin Bell, Sophia Bowley, Alton Chambers

C/o 2017: Jose Navas, Trevian Strong

C/o 2016: Lauren Allen

C/o 2015: Joseph Araujo

15 Consecutive Years of NFL/NSDA National Qualifiers

2025: Clarissa Coleman (Lincoln-Douglas), Miles Hansen & Roscoe Levanway (Public Forum)

2024: Hart Jefferson (Senate), Miles Hansen (Internat'l Extemp), Roscoe Levanway (Internat'l Extemp), Sylvia Kassoff (World Schools)

2023: Hart Jefferson (World Schools), Aaron Araujo (US Extemp), Sylvia Kassoff (Big Questions)

2022: Hart Jefferson (Lincoln-Douglas), Parker Hansen (World Schools), LaBrenda Bell & Sylvia Kassoff (Policy)

2021: Hart Jefferson (Big Questions), Parker Hansen (World Schools), Aaron Araujo (Congressional Debate - Senate)

2020: Evan Morrisey (World Schools), Jeffrey Caliedo (Program of Oral Interpretation), Jessie James, III (Congresional Debate - House), Parker Hansen (Lincoln-Douglas)

2019: Maisie Brown & Evan Morrisey (World Schools)

2018: Alton Chambers & Christian Johnson (World Schools), Evan Morrisey (US Extemp)

2017: Jamil Johnson (World Schools), Jose Navas (House), Matthew Araujo & Evan Morrisey (Policy)

2016: Viviek Patel (World Schools), Lauren Allen & Jose Navas (Policy)

2015: Alliyah Taylor & Lauren Allen (Policy), Grafton Sykes & Viviek Patel (Public Forum)

2014: Alliyah Taylor (International Extemp)

2013: Graeme Campbell & Alliyah Taylor (Policy)

2012: Justin Porter & Carlos Rucker (Public Forum)

2011: Justin Porter & Carlos Rucker (Public Forum)

2003: Amile Wilson (Congressional Debate)

1970: Charles Garvin & Steve McDonald (Policy Debate)

1969: Doug Campbell & Charles Garvin, Zachary Taylor & Steve McDonald (Policy Debate)

Hall of Fame Finishes

2019: Y'Sonni Pressley, Finalist, Declamation - NCFL Grand Nationals

2017: Mikayla Faulkner, Quarterfinalist, Prose & Poetry - Barkley Forum at Emory University

2016: Jamil Johnson & Trevian Strong, Champions, Public Forum Debate - Holy Cross