Speech

HARTINGTON – The Hartington- Newcastle High School speech team talked its way to the top of its district and is sending several qualifiers to the State competition.

Hartington-Newcastle hosted the District C2-3 speech meet Monday and won the team title with 340 points, followed by Ponca with 130 points, Cedar Catholic with 116 points, Bloomfield with 94 points, Ainsworth with 80 points, Summerland with 62 points, Boyd County with 58 points and Neligh-Oakdale with 20 points.

“I am very proud of the work that our kids have put in this season,” Hartington- Newcastle speech coach A.J. Johnson said. “They work very hard and will be motivated to do their best at State.

“I am especially happy for our seniors,” he said. “They are a great group with great work ethic and they have been outstanding leaders for our team. It was nice to see them get rewarded for all of their work.”

Hartington-Newcastle sent 19 entries to finals at the district meet and had 18 state qualifiers. The top three in each event qualified for the 2024 Nebraska School Activities Association State Speech Championships for Classes C1 and C2 on March 21 at Kearney High School.

Medalists for Hartington-Newcastle at the district meet were: - Duet Acting: Seniors Mani Lange and Dayton Sudbeck, first; sophomores Dane Gotch and Issac Santiago, second.

- Entertainment Speaking: Junior Cole Heimes, first; senior Alexus Hans, second.

- Oral Interpretation of Drama: Junior Cole Heimes, freshman Jason Heimes, senior Mani Lange, sophomore Lainey Morten and senior Dayton Sudbeck, first; sophomore Dane Gotch, freshman Trevon Hopping, sophomore Carter Kelly, sophomore Issac Santiago and freshman Austin Sudbeck, second.

- Persuasive Speaking: Senior Emma Wubben, first; senior Alexus Hans, second.

- Poetry: Senior Kaylee Ptak, first; junior Ryell Haug, third.

- Serious Prose: Sophomore Dane Gotch, first; sophomore Issac Santiago, third.

- Extemporaneous Speaking: Sophomore Trynity Zach, third.

- Humorous Prose: Sophomore Lainey Morten, second; freshman Trevon Hopping, third.

- Informative Speaking: Senior Kennedy Gotch, second; sophomore Hazel Hochstein, third.

- Program of Oral Interpretation: Senior Kennedy Gotch, second; sophomore Trynity Zach, fourth.

“I’m excited to see what we can do next week,” Johnson said. “We’ll be working hard over the next week to see how we can improve our performances.”

For Cedar Catholic, its speech team has not talked its way into a top-three finish at a district meet in more than 15 years.

“Definitely a high point in rebuilding our program,” Cedar Catholic speech coach Jennifer Kleinschmit said. “As a team, we placed third in sweepstakes points and I am beyond proud of these kids. We had one-third the number of kids as the runner-up team so we were extremely competitive.”

Medalists for Cedar Catholic at the district meet were: - Informative Speaking: Sophomore Ava Stewart, first; sophomore Breah Steffen, fourth.

- Program of Oral Interpretation: Senior Elizabeth Rokusek, first.

- Extemporaneous Speaking: Junior Ben Kleinschmit, second; senior Madison Kuchta, fifth.

- Poetry: Senior Elizabeth Rokusek, second; senior Madison Kuchta, seventh.

- Humorous Prose: Senior Elizabeth Rokusek, fourth.

Cedar Catholic has four State-qualifying speech events.

“I can’t wait for state next week,” Jennifer Kleinschmit said.