Here’s a statement that should astound you: the Wheeling Park High Speech and Debate team this past weekend won its 46th consecutive state championship.

Forty-six.

Since 1980, only one team in the Mountain State has come home with that trophy, and that team calls the school atop the hill at Wheeling Park its home. It’s a testament to each team’s talent, hard work and dedication to their craft.

So how does one team establish that level of dominance over more than four-and-a-half decades? Everyone involved understands the legacy they’re part of.

To understand that legacy, here’s another impressive statement: the previous two head coaches of that speech and debate team, Fran Schoolcraft and Bill Cornforth, are in the Wheeling Hall of Fame. The current coaches — Jen Mathieu, Kayla Nelson and Isabella Droginske ­– have maintained that commitment to excellence, and it has paid off once again in gold.

This isn’t a tradition easy to work under. No team wants to be the one that ends the streak, and that is part of the motivation, to honor those team members that have come before them. So far, no one has disappointed.

Congratulations once again to the WPHS speech and debate team. Their continued success remains a shining example of what Ohio County students can accomplish.