The MSU Debate Team can finally say that it can win any argument it's faced with.

David Strauss, an international relations senior, and Greta Stahl, a history and international relations senior, became the 58th National Debate Tournament champions April 5 at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., winning first place out of 78 teams.

Other members of the team competed as well, with interdisciplinary humanities junior Aaron Hardy and biology senior Shaun VanHorn qualifying for the semifinals of the tournament. MSU has been in the semifinals of the tournament for the past four years, but the team had never won the national title.

"Winning the (tournament) is a sign of excellence," said Mike Eber, director of the debate team. "Dave and Greta had a support network of students and coaches who worked to help them out,"

The debaters spent months preparing speeches and arguments centered around the topic of U.S. foreign policy toward Europe. A different topic is picked every year by the national debate committee.

The team, which is made up of 12-15 members, spends all spring and summer researching the topic online and in books. Competitions start in late September.

The amount of time that they work on debate varies, head coach William Repko said.

"Our freshmen can spend only around five hours a week on debate, while our seniors probably spend around 40 hours a week on it," Repko said. "It's almost as much time as a full-time job."

Despite the hours spent preparing, most say they have managed to maintain their grades.

"There's a trade-off between grades and debate, but they kind of counterbalance each other," Strauss said. "Debate definitely has made me more knowledgeable and helps me with school."

Hardy said that being a part of the team is challenging.

"I certainly get schoolwork done while debating, but debate is pretty time-consuming," he said. "It definitely gets in the way of doing anything else."

But Repko said the benefits of debate are worth the work.

"The importance of debate, I think, is that there are a lot of indirect academic benefits," he said. "It's not just about winning contests, you learn a lot about the world, competition, pressure and dealing with difficult situations."

For Stahl, who is a senior and has been debating for seven years, becoming the national champion is the best way to end her career.

Both Strauss and Stahl say they will be involved with the team after graduation, although in different degrees. Strauss said he will coach next year in the second semester, and Stahl said she would like to show up for a tournament.

In the context of the team's future, coaches and students alike believe winning the National Debate Tournament will help recruit more students to the team and school.

"It's a huge status symbol for MSU and it's a big draw for recruits," Hardy said. "This kind of record says to potential recruits that this is as good as it gets."

Rebecca McNulty can be reached at mcnult13@msu.edu.