Thirty-one students from Lawrence’s public high schools will compete in the Kansas 6A Speech and Drama Championships Saturday.

Sixteen students from Free State High and 15 from Lawrence High will do battle with students from 25 other schools at Olathe Northwest High School, 21300 College Blvd., in Olathe. One competition, the Lincoln-Douglas Debate, begins today at 3:15 p.m. while the majority of the events will occur Saturday beginning at 8 a.m.

Free State coach Jason Moore said his team finished within the top three of “just about every other tournament” this year.

“Obviously 6A state is a very competitive tournament,” Moore said. “I just want my kids to do as well as they can and try their best. If we get some medals, fantastic. If not, I already feel like my kids accomplished a lot this year.”

Lawrence High coach Jeff Plinsky called his team perhaps the best the school has ever seen and “certainly better than anything we have on record.” The team has collected 204 individual medals and 11 sweepstakes awards so far this year.

“I expect that this team will approach this tournament with the same kind of energy and focus we’ve had all year,” Plinsky said. “If we do that, good things will happen for us. I’m excited to see how it turns out, myself.”

Appearing for Free State are seniors Brianna Adams, Solomon Cottrell, Sydney Dorrance, Parker Hopkins, Adam Strathman; juniors Linda Liu, Nikki Myers, Genevieve Prescher, Trenna Soderling, Nixi Swedlund; and sophomores Katie Lane, Paige Lawrence, Ian Pultz-Earle, Ilya Schaeffer, Meredith Shaheed, Sophia Swanson.

Lawrence High will be represented by seniors Mona Ahmed, Hannah Lee, Hayley Luna, Lane Quick, Kelli Sturm; juniors Joaquin Dorado, Louise Loats, Stefan Petrovic, Matt Ramaley; sophomores Natalie Coté, Carson Drake, Sungho Hwang, Jazmyne McNair, Meredith Von Feldt; and freshman Claire Walther.