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WAUSA – Several Cedar County high school students continue to be busy speaking at weekly speech meets during the 2024 season.
The speech teams from Hartington- Newcastle and Cedar Catholic high schools competed at the Wausa Speech Invitational on Feb. 10, while the Wynot High School speech team was at the Humphrey High Sweetheart Meet the same day. Cedar Catholic also traveled to the Holy Family/ St. Francis Speech Invitational in Lindsay on Feb. 9.
Hartington-Newcastle scored 38 points and placed second out of 14 schools in the varsity division of the Wausa competition. Wayne took home the varsity team championship with 50 points, while host Wausa earned third place with 32 points.
“Overall, I am pleased with the progress we are making,” Hartington- Newcastle head speech coach A.J. Johnson said. “This meet was another day of tough competition, as many of the area’s top teams were there. We have a lot of work to do to continue to improve and our kids are up to the challenge.”
Hartington-Newcastle’s varsity medal winners were: - Entertainment Speaking: Junior Cole Heimes, second; senior Alexus Hans, sixth.
- Informative Speaking: Senior Kennedy Gotch, second; sophomore Hazel Hochstein, fifth.
- Oral Interpretation of Drama: Sophomore Dane Gotch, freshman Trevon Hopping, sophomore Carter Kelly, sophomore Issac Santiago and freshman Austin Sudbeck, second.
- Duet Acting: Sophomores Dane Gotch and Issac Santiago, third.
- Poetry: Junior Ryell Haug, third. - Program of Oral Interpretation: Senior Kennedy Gotch, third.
- Serious Prose: Sophomore Dane Gotch, third; sophomore Issac Santiago, fourth.
- Persuasive Speaking: Senior Emma Wubben, fifth.
Hartington-Newcastle also had two junior varsity medalists, both in Extemporaneous Speaking: Sophomore Trynity Zach, second; freshman Gabe Reyes, third.
On Feb. 9, Cedar Catholic scored 32 points to place seventh out of at least 11 teams at the Holy Family/St. Francis Speech Invitational.
Cedar Catholic sophomore Ava Stewart placed first in the varsity division of Informative Speaking and junior Ben Kleinschmit placed fifth in the varsity division of Extemporaneous Speaking.
“It was an extremely tough meet,” Cedar Catholic head speech coach Jennifer Kleinschmit said.
On Feb. 10, Cedar Catholic competed at the Wausa speech meet.
Although a few members of the team had to be gone for ACT testing, Cedar Catholic had Stewart again place first in the varsity division of Informative Speaking.
Senior Elizabeth Rokusek placed third in Poetry, fifth in Humorous Prose and sixth in Program of Oral Interpretation – all in the varsity division.
“These kids continue to amaze me every week,” Jennifer Kleinschmit said. “Even if they do not make finals, they are improving and having fun.”
Wynot competed at the Humphrey High Sweetheart Meet on Feb. 10.
Senior Isabelle Heimes placed first in Program of Oral Interpretation and second in Serious Prose – both in the varsity division. Heimes, junior Joslyn Hochstein, junior Kallie Steffen and freshman Cash Lenzen placed seventh in the varsity division of Oral Interpretation of Drama.
In the junior varsity division, Lenzen placed fourth in Entertainment Speaking; freshman Taylor Pinkelman placed sixth in Informative Speaking and seventh in Extemporaneous Speaking; and freshman Brianna Pinkelman placed seventh in Persuasive Speaking.
