The National Debate Tournament kicked off Friday, March 24, 2017, at the University of Kansas Edwards Campus in Overland Park. Pictured competing in the day's first round of debates is the KU team of Henry Walter (left) and Jacob Hegna, against the Indiana team of Bee Smale (left) and Harry Aaronson. The tournament is expected to run through late Monday night.

Overland Park ? A few miles from where the University of Kansas men’s basketball team is in the playoffs for a national championship, there’s another national tournament going on that’s equally prestigious and competitive in its own — admittedly less spectator-friendly — right.

It’s the country’s oldest collegiate policy debate.

KU has a long history of competing in the National Debate Tournament, and this weekend is hosting it for the first time ever, at the KU Edwards Campus. The tournament began Friday morning and will culminate in the championship round Monday night, though it’s not uncommon for the final round to stretch into the wee hours of Tuesday morning.

A total of 156 debaters from 44 universities are in town vying for the national championship, including three duos from KU.

Friday morning, the quiet of spring break was replaced with classroom after classroom of intellectual dialogue so intense it’s indisputably athletic.

For nine minutes with no breaks, debaters read speeches at breakneck pace. There’s audible gasping for air between long, forcefully dictated passages. Hands running through hair, pushing up glasses. Swaying. Eyes bugging out, index fingers jamming into the air.

The National Debate Tournament kicked off Friday, March 24, 2017, at the University of Kansas Edwards Campus in Overland Park. Pictured competing in the day's first round of debates is the KU team of Henry Walter (left) and Jacob Hegna, against the Indiana team of Bee Smale (left) and Harry Aaronson. The tournament is expected to run through late Monday night.

Each debate includes multiple speeches and cross-examinations, and may go on for hours.

“By the end of the day people are, like, sweating profusely as they speak,” said Benton Bajorek, a KU graduate student in communications and an assistant coach for the debate squad. “It’s like running a marathon with your lungs.”

Pre-season workouts for this level of debate competition even include speed drills, such as reading a speech with a pen between your teeth to help make sure your tongue stays back for faster articulation, Bajorek said. He said some debaters practice speeches while holding a chair or other heavy object in their arms, to work on stamina.

The resolution teams are debating this year is whether the U.S. federal government should establish a domestic climate policy, including increasing restrictions on private-sector emissions of greenhouse gases in the United States.

With an average policy debater spewing out something like 350 words per minute, a lay observer may be hard-pressed to follow arguments.

That’s why collegiate-level policy debate isn’t a great spectator sport, KU debate director Scott Harris said.

Scott Harris

“It’s for an audience that has spent their entire life talking fast,” he said.

But kind of like learning a foreign language or understanding a fast-talking auctioneer, eventually people can get used to it, he said. “When you go all the time, your ear adjusts.”

The end goal of the fast talking is to put forth as many arguments as possible before the timer beeps. That takes copious amounts of research, preparation and thinking on one’s feet.

“In order to compete and succeed at this kind of level, the depth of knowledge that students have is kind of amazing,” Harris said.

The KU debate teams competing in this year’s National Debate Tournament are:

• Quaram Robinson, a junior from Round Rock, Texas, pre-law and majoring in African and African-American studies; and Kyndall Delph, freshman from Little Rock, Arkansas, majoring in English. Robinson competed last year with Sion Bell and took second place at the National Debate Tournament.

• Jacob Hegna, sophomore from Overland Park, majoring in computer science and math; and Henry Walter, sophomore from Overland Park, majoring in economics and political science.

• Chris Birzer, senior from Leawood, majoring in math with a minor in chemistry; and Madison Cook, senior from Shawnee, majoring in political science and history.

Two of KU’s teams — Robinson/Delph and Hegna/Walter — are ranked in the top 16 nationally. Only two other schools came into the tournament with two teams ranked in the top 16: University of California at Berkeley and Emory University.

If the KU debate squad had an Allen Fieldhouse (their headquarters in the sub-basement of Bailey Hall is considerably less grandiose), its rafters would be full of pennants. According to KU:

• KU Debate has won the National Debate Tournament championship five times in its history. The most recent championship team, Brett Bricker (now assistant coach) and Nate Johnson, brought home the trophy in 2009.

• KU has qualified for the National Debate Tournament in 66 of the 71 years of the tournament’s existence. KU also has had a team reach the final four at least once every decade since the tournament began in 1947.

• This is the 50th consecutive year KU Debate has qualified teams to compete at the National Debate Tournament.

KU is there with plenty of stiff competition, including those top-16 teams from UC Berkeley.

UC Berkeley debate director Jonah Feldman — who, along with his debaters, donned a Hawaiian shirt for Friday’s rounds — said this weekend’s tournament was anxiety provoking and emotion-filled.

“It’s a huge deal,” Feldman said. “This is the highlight of our year.”