Senior Kristin Kalita advanced to semifinal rounds before bowing out of original oratory Thursday morning at the national high school speech and debate competition.

She ended up placing 11th in the nation, out of the 228 contestants that began competing back on Monday

Seniors Samantha Sangerman and Eric Schaefer in duo and Beau Rajsic in U.S. extemporaneous speaking, who had also advanced from prelims, were eliminated from competition after octafinals.

Junior Tom Geairn advanced to the ninth round of Lincoln-Douglas debate, putting him somewhere in the top 55 in the nation.

Several team members opted to compete in supplemental or consolation events (for students going out in their main events) beginning on Wednesday and Thursday.

In supplementals, junior Melissa Penfold advanced six rounds in prose before being eliminated late Wednesday. Seniors Beau Rajsic, Tyler DeMar, Jay Hartford, along with junior Tom Geairn, sophomore Ankur Chawla, and freshman Adam Potrzebowski all entered impromptu on Thursday.

Hartford continued to advance through a field of 450 competitors to make the final round of six. His final will be held on Friday afternoon and the results will be announced at the awards ceremony Friday night.

The same will be true for senior Jeff Corso who advanced to final round in story telling. Corso started out in a field of over 200 competitors and advanced through five rounds before reaching the final six. Jeff is Chesterton’s first entry ever in story telling at the national tournament.

“We are really happy with the success Kristin has had; she is such a class act and a natural leader. But, we’re also anxious to see what lies ahead for Jay and Jeff. We are really proud of this whole group and how they have hung together and supported each other as a team. They have really made this year‚s national trip a great experience,” said Coach Bob Kelly.

Coaches Bob Kelly, Jim Cavallo, Barbara Funke, Chris Lowery, and Scott Woodhouse, along with Valparaiso graduate Corryn Short have assumed judging duties all week. The team is due to arrive home late Saturday evening.

Posted 6/22/2007