On April 17-18, seniors Robert Pavlovic and Vihan Saraf went undefeated at the National Speech and Debate Association’s District meet at Hendrickson High School, allowing them to advance to the national tournament in Dallas.

“The boys have worked all year long,” debate teacher Jill Fowler said. “They have put in many, many hours and totally deserved the trip.”

Pavlovic and Saraf had one month to prepare pro and con cases for the statement that “committing United States ground combat troops to fight ISIL is in the best interest of the United States.”

“It was an interesting topic,” Saraf said. “It definitely required daily research due to the recent and volatile nature of the ISIL conflict.”

The debaters advanced to an out-of-state tournament at Stanford earlier this year and will travel to Dallas in June to represent McNeil in public forum debate.

“At the Dallas meet, I’m looking most forward to meeting other debaters and getting exposure to debate on a national scale,” Saraf said. “Every debater and judge from every region in the U.S. has something unique to offer and teach us and I can’t wait for it all to converge in Dallas.”

Although they put in a lot of work towards the meet, the boys do not think that is the only reason they went undefeated.

“I think we were successful not only because we worked very hard, but also because we love debating,” Saraf said. “We see each round as a chance to debate rather than a means to win a  trophy or national qualification.”