Speech team garners runner-up in Thursday tournament

FAIRMONT — On March 21, the Fairmont Speech Team competed at The Big South Conference Speech Tournament held at Worthington High School in Worthington, Minn. Teams competing were Fairmont, Jackson County Central, Luverne, Marshall, Pipestone, Redwood Valley, St. Peter, Windom and Worthington.

In team sweepstakes, the Large Team All-Conference Team Champion was Marshall with 192 points and the Large Team All Conference Runner-up was Fairmont with 186 points.

12 Fairmont Speakers were named All-Conference by placing 1st and 2nd in their category.

All-Conference winners from Fairmont were:

1st Place: Senior Abi Peyman in Great Speeches; Junior Alayna Haefner in Original Oratory; Junior Dominick Lund-May in Extemporaneous Speaking; Juniors Grace Simpson and Oliver Thedens in Duo Interpretation; Freshman Leon Yang in Humorous Interpretation; and Junior Zoey Tasseff in Creative Expression.

2nd place: Sophomore Bel Lutterman in Original Oratory; Senior Isaiah Lockwood in Great Speeches; 7th Grader Sophia Streit in Storytelling; Senior Sydney Blomster in Informative Speaking; and Sophomore Thomas Hamlet in Humorous Interpretation.

All-Conference finalists were: 8th Grader Michelle Esquivel took 3rd Place in Storytelling (All-Conference Honorable Mention).

Senior Andrew Haefner took 4th place in Extemporaneous Speaking; Sophomore Dhanvi Patel took 4th place in Dramatic Interpretation; Junior Isaac Thomas took 4th place in Humorous Interpretation; Freshman Allie Streit took 6th place in Extemporaneous Readin; and 8th grader Bella Coan and 7th grader Georgia Werre took 6th place in Duo Interpretation. The Fairmont Speech Team is coached by Kathleen Walker, Erik Walker and Miles Duffey.