The Chesterton High School Speech and Debate Team boast three individual champions this past weekend and qualified a debater for nationals at the Carroll Speech Invitational and the Northeast NFL District Congress this past weekend in Ft. Wayne.

Twenty-nine schools attended the dual event, and more than 400 students competed in either the speech tournament or the district congress.

The CHS Speech Team placed third overall at its invitational while sophomore Mikaela Meyer qualified to compete in the Senate in Congressional Debate at the National Forensic League tourney in Indianapolis this summer. She will be joining the Public Forum, Policy, and Lincoln/Douglas debaters who qualified back in January.

Others placing at the District Congress were freshman Nadia Mario and junior Humaira Khan in House A; they were seventh and fourth respectively. In House B junior Elaine Tagert finished in sixth and in the Senate junior McKenzie Richardson placed sixth as well.

Seniors led the way for the Speech Team with Cassidy Peretin, Mike Leopold, and Andrew Hogan each placing in two events. Peretin was second in both Original Oratory and U.S. Extemporaneous Speaking and was awarded the team trophy for her performance and leadership. Leopold was the tournament champion in Broadcasting and placed third in Original Oratory. Hogan won Humorous Interpretation and finished third in Dramatic Interpretation.

Junior Sharon Coleman, meanwhile, was the tournament champion in Original Oratory, and fellow junior Jennifer Kattalia followed in fifth. In fact, all four of the team’s oratories made it to the final round of eight.

Also placing in final round were juniors Spencer Gordon, who was third in International Extemporaneous speaking, and Kaylee Oates, who was eighth in Humor.

The Memorized Duo team of Rachel Kidder (11) and Lauren Hogan (9) also placed eighth.

Munster was the tournament champion with 156 points, followed by Plymouth with 124 points. Chesterton was third with 62 points, followed by Dekalb in fourth with 45 points and Bishop Dwenger in fifth with 14 points.

Coaches Bob Kelly, Chris Lowery, and Scott Woodhouse were joined by former students Jessica Cleary and Eric Schaefer, who helped with judging. The team’s final regular season tournament will be next weekend at Elkhart Memorial.