GRAND FORKS, N.D. (NewsDakota.com)-The Valley City High School Hi-Liner Speech Team traveled to the Grand Forks Central Speech Classic this past Saturday, March 2nd. In a field of 11 schools, VCHS placed first with 178 points. Devils Lake was 2nd with 84 points. West Fargo was 3rd with 78 points. We advanced 29 entries to finals which was the most of any school and qualified one new event to the state tournament. Monisha Terry and Gabriella Shipp qualified their Serious Duo for the first time.
Due to the size of the tournament, Superior Speaker awards were given out to students who did not advance to the final round of competition on a tiebreaker or who received a rank of “1” in a preliminary round but did not advance to the final round of competition:
Individual Results are as follows:
Dramatic: Owen Plagens (3rd), Gabriella Shipp (2nd), Lillian Kiefert (1st and State Qualified)
Extemp Program Reading: Julianne McPartland (Superior Speaker), Brinklyn Johnson (Top Novice), Maggie Oberlander (5th), Monisha Terry (1st and State Qualified)
Extemp Speaking: Lillian Kiefert (Superior Speaker)
Humorous: Owen Plagens (Superior Speaker)Tucker Johnson (5th), Monisha Terry (2nd)
Humorous Duo: Benjamin Kruta/ Isaac Abrahamson (Top Novice), Amelia Meester/ Katy Borg (8th), Brooke Ask/ Cassie Mundal (3rd)
Impromptu: Lillian Kiefert (3rd), Gabriella Shipp (2nd)
Inform: Sophia Boe (Superior Speaker), Aurora Ziniel (5th)
Persuade: Elizabeth Gazely (3rd), Maggie Oberlander (1st and State Qualified)
Poetry: Cassie Mundal (7th), Monisha Terry (4th), Lillian Kiefert (1st and State Qualified)
Serious Prose: Kendra Green (Top Novice), Ayden Grace McPartland (7th), Gabriella Shipp (2nd), Maggie Oberlander (1st and State Qualified)
Serious Duo: Maddi Knight/ Tucker Johnson (Top Novice), Brooke Ask/Rylee Cihak (4th), Maggie Oberlander/ Eliza Johnson (3rd), Monisha Terry/ Gabriella Shipp (1st and State Qualified)
Entertain: Katy Borg (Top Novice), Benjamin Kruta (8th), Amelia Meester (7th), Elizabeth Gazely (4th)
Storytelling: Stephanie Hoffarth (Top Novice and Superior Speaker), Amelia Meester (7th), Tucker Johnson (6th), Sophie Boe (3rd), Elizabeth Gazeley (1st and State Qualified)
Next up for the VCHS Speech Team is a home tournament at Valley City State University, Saturday March 9th. The 4th annual VCSU Viking Speech Invitational will feature a small mix of Class A and Class B teams but should still be highly competitive.