Speech talks it up:
Team wins districts, competes in State
Megan Kawa
The Marian Speech Team has
started a new tradition—winning district speech for the second year in a
row. Not only did the team go far at
the district level, but also placed outstandingly at the state
competition. On Feb. 28, the speech
team won District speech overall, and on March 18, the speech team had three
State finalists and placed sixth overall.
Before Districts, speech
team coach, Miss Jennifer Feregrino said, “we had the potential for first place
or runner-up.” Not only did the speech
team place 1st in the District competition, which took place at
Millard North, but far exceeded Feregrino’s expectations with the amount of State
qualifiers. Out of the 17 district
qualifiers from Marian, those placing third or above qualified for state, which
totaled 16 qualifiers in nine different events.
Preparing for the State competition was next on the
list of things to do. Feregrino helped
her team prepare for State in many ways.
Some speeches needed last minute changes, while others just needed more
practice. The competitors were
constantly practicing in their classes and during their free time. Extemporaneous (extemp for short) speakers
had to keep up-to-date on recent and pertaining events. Before the State competition, junior extemp
speaker Katie Lee said, “I researched everyday and tried to keep up on current
events.”
Before the State
competition, senior competitor Abby Anderson said, “I am not really nervous at
all…I’m calm and collected.” Anderson competed with four other speech team
members in OID, also known as an Oral Interpretation of Drama.
Not only were State
competitors allowed to attended the state competition, but 16 fans, also speech
team members, came along to cheer on their teammates. Feregrino decided on this added encouragement because, “it’s a
team and I think any member of the team should be able to go and be supportive.” She also added that, “it’s an excellent
learning opportunity.”
Sophomore speech team member
and state speech attendant Hallie Burger agrees with Feregrino. “I think people [competitors] were able to
do their best knowing that other people were there to support them,” she said. Burger also believes that she was able to
learn a lot just by observing the contestants because she “was able to see the
best in the state compete,” Burger said.
Marian placed sixth out of 48 teams in Class B at State speech, which
took place at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. Three Marian students made it to finals: juniors Sara Drews in
Informative Speaking, Marie Young in Persuasive Speaking and senior Nkiru
Nnawulezi in Oral Interpretation of Poetry.
All three finalists placed fourth in the state.
“My goals for next year are
to maintain a strong and spirited team and to keep Marian speech at a competitive
level,” said Feregrino.