DALLAS — The Kingston Speech and Debate team turned in its best performance ever at the National Speech and Debate Association National Tournament last week.

The team from Kingston finished in tenth place at the tournament, up 34 spots from last year and it was the highest finish of any team from Washington since 2011. The tournament took place June 16-21 at the Sheraton Dallas and featured schools from all 50 states as well as five other countries — Canada, China, Argentina, Singapore and Taiwan.

Kingston seniors Seth Hillsberry, Hayden Victory and Thadeus Smith teamed up with Bellevue High School junior Alice Wang and they were coached by Piper Ragland from Kingston as well as Meykia Smith from Thomas Jefferson and Amy McCormick from Bellevue.

After reaching the elimination round, they beat New Jersey Red on a 3-0 decision to move on to the top 32 where they also beat Capitol Valley Gold of Sacramento on on a 3-0 decision. They ended up tenth overall after losing to Canada White. Last year, the team placed 44th.