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WAUSA - Isabelle Heimes has talked her way into the State speech meet once again.
The Wynot High School senior is her speech team’s lone qualifier for the 2 024 NebraskaSchool Activities Association State Speech Championships, which are scheduled for Classes D1 and D2 on March 22 at Kearney High School.
Isabelle placed first in Program of Oral Interpretation and second in Serious Prose at the District Dl-3 speech contest on March 12 at Wausa. The top three finishers in each event qualified for the State contest.
This is the third time Isabelle has qualified for the State meet, but the first year she has made the competition in Program of Oral Interpretation.
“It feels great to have qualified for State,' Isabelle said. “I am so excited to show off my pieces and can’t wait to see how I do.'
Isabelle and her teammates - junior Joslyn Hochstein, junior Kallie Steffen and freshman Cash Lenzen - helped Wynot place fourth in Oral Interpretation of Drama at the District contest.
In addition, Joslyn and Kallie earned fourth in Duet Acting and Joslyn placed sixth in Entertainment Speaking.
Wynot finished in sixth place as a team at the District meet with 76 points, behind Plainview, 300 points; host Wausa, 234 points; Clarkson, 124 points; Creighton, 88 points; and Leigh, 78 points.
Wynot speech coach Heather Heimes noted her team was small and young this season.
“I am so proud of how well our kids did,” Heather said. “I am impressed with how hard our District was. You will see a lot of great things from the kids at State from our District. There were a lot of talented kids performing.
“We had a lot of State basketball (players), which affected practice time, but the kids never complained, ” she said. “When asked to come in, they did so willingly. I am proud of our team and our District.”
Heather’s pride especially extends to Isabelle, her daughter, who is supported both by her mother/speech coach and older sister, assistant speech coach Zoey Wieseler.
“I really get a mix of practices that are at home and in school,” Isabelle said. “Now that I am only in Serious Prose and POI, I will do the majorityofmypractices athome with my mom.”
Isabelle’s Serious Prose presentation is titled “Life as a Fly” - which is about singer Patsy Cline and the abuse she faced from one of her husbands - and her Program of Oral Interpretation piece is about school shootings.
“I chose these two topics to shine a light on current social issues that I feel very strongly about,' Isabelle said. “I want people to know the pain that women face when in domestic violence situations and the fear the students face about school invasions.'
Isabelle noted she feels lucky to say she has done really well all speech season in all of her events.
“OID did not end the way we wanted it to, but I am still proud of what we put out and I believe we grew and improved greatly as the season went on,' Isabelle said. “I definitely think I can still tweak some things about my Serious Prose and POI; however, I do feel I will do very well with my pieces.'
In addition to moving on to this year’s State speech meet, Isabelle also qualified in early February for the 2024 National Individual Events Tournament of Champions, which is set for May 10-12 in Bellevue.
“I am extremely honored to say I have qualified for the national meet three times in my high school career, although this year will be only my second year attending,' Isabelle said. “I have qualified in both POI and Serious Prose for the national tournament.'
Isabelle described herself as “extremely grateful” for her entire Wynot speech team.
“The support I have gotten in my individual events, as well as the love I felt from my OID group, is something I would not give up for the world,' Isabelle said. “I also want to thank my mom and my sister for helping me grow over these four years of speech.'
