The Chesterton High School Speech team turned in an outstanding performance
at the Ft. Wayne Carroll Speech Invitational this past weekend, with three
tournament champions and five second place finishes. Twenty-eight schools
and more than 400 students competed in the largest invitational the team has
attended this season. No team awards were announced, but with its 22
finalists CHS was likely one of the top teams in the all varsity
competition.
Tournament champions were all seniors. The team of Sharon Coleman and Kaylee
Oates won memorized duo, Jennifer Kattalia won original oratory, and for the
third week in a row Kiera Quealy won original performance. Coleman and
Quealy also placed second and fifth, respectively, in drama; Kattalia and
her partner, junior Layla Mooradian, were sixth in memorized duo; and Oates
was third in humor.
Seniors Spencer Gordon and Ronnie Kovach also placed in two events. Gordon
was second in international extemporaneous speaking and fourth in impromptu,
while Kovach took second place in broadcasting and third in discussion.
"We really did well as a team, but it was especially nice to see our seniors
assert themselves the way they did this weekend,” said coach Bob Kelly.
Elsewhere, junior Layla Mooradian placed third in declamation and eighth in
original oratory. Juniors Nathan Dickinson, third in broadcasting, Simon
Andrews, second in discussion, and Jami Ritchea, second in humor, also did
well for the team. The scripted duo team of senior Rachel Kidder and junior
Justyn Lance placed seventh.
Several sophomores also contributed to the team's performance. Kasey O'Keefe
placed seventh in both drama and prose, Lauren Hogan took sixth place in
humor, Galen Wong was sixth in declamation, and Nathan Burris, competing in
US extemporaneous for the first time, finished in fourth place.
Coaches Kelly, Doug Pishkur, Kirsten Reed and Eric Schaefer were joined by
former student Jessica Cleary. In addition, parents Marcia Ritchea, Alice
Meyer and Rick and Robyn Kidder came along to help with judging. The team
will conclude its regular season next weekend by hosting an all varsity
tournament at the Chesterton High School.
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