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Plainview Speech Team Does Well at Local Tournaments

February 13, 2008

Plainview's Speech team displays their championship plaque from Saturday's win at the Plainview Invite.

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Plainview's Speech team displays their championship plaque from Saturday's win at the Plainview Invite.

     The Plainview Speech team has been working hard—revising, memorizing, rehearsing, fine-tuning their speeches--and their efforts paid off this last weekend.  They competed at the Lutheran High Northeast meet on Friday, and hosted their own Invite on Saturday.  From each meet, they brought home 16 medals (between the JV and varsity members) after competing against some very strong, talented teams in the area.

    “The team made some huge strides this last week.  It’s one thing to just get up and speak with confidence, but to memorize, polish, and perfect takes a lot of practice.  So many of these kids dedicated themselves to improving this week--some of them spending hours and hours practicing at night.  It can be tedious work, but they seem to enjoy it.  I know it sure makes it enjoyable to coach kids with that kind of work ethic and attitude,” says Coach Tammy Schindler.

     At Lutheran High Northeast on Friday, the following were champions in their event:  Kristen Tassemeyer in Informative, Taylor Christiansen in Humorous prose, Kelsey Meuret in Persuasive, and the Duet team of Ashley Mosel and Camille Friedrich.  

     Other medalists included Camille Friedrich, 2^nd in serious prose, Heather Holton, 2^nd in JV persuade; the JV OID team of Michelle Sauser, Sarah Meuret, Seth Williams, Andrew Holton, and Zach Masat.

     A double-medalist in individual events was Rachel Wiegert, earning 3^rd place in both humorous prose and poetry.  Abby Holmes earned 3^rd in entertainment speaking.

     Britton Hamm, JV humorous prose, earned 5^th place, as did Heather Holton in JV Serious prose.   The Varsity OID team of Abby Holmes, Kristen Tassemeyer, Taylor Christiansen, and Ethan Pellatz earned a 5^th place medal.

     And finishing out the day of medals was 6^th place, Sarah Meuret in Informative, and both Preston Doerr and Seth Williams in Persuasive Speaking.

     At Plainview’s home meet, the students present their speech three different times, for three different judges.  Their results of each round are tallied, and the winners are not revealed until the end.  This means that students who compete  in two different events, present 6 times in four hours, which can be challenging. 

     Pierce, Crofton, Creighton, Lutheran High Northeast, Wausa, Laurel-Concord, Hartington, and Elkhorn-Valley all brought talented teams to the event, with every one of them taking home medals.  After the dust settled, Plainview won the team plaque, with runner-up honors going to Hartington High , and 3^rd place to Pierce.

     In JV competition, Pierce’s team won the team award, with runner-up honors going to Hartington, and 3^rd place to Crofton.

     Champions at the home meet include Michelle MacGregor in serious prose, Ashley Mosel in entertainment, Kelsey Meuret (in a tie with Preston Sunderman from Lutheran High Northeast), Kristen Tassemeyer in Informative, the duet team of Ashley Mosel and Camille Friedrich; the OID team of Kristen Tassemeyer, Abby Holmes, Taylor Christiansen, and Ethan Pellatz; Zach Masat in JV Entertainment, and the JV OID team of Sarah Meuret, Michelle Sauser, Seth Williams, Andrew Holton, and Zach Masat.

     Camille Friedrich earned a 2^nd place medal in serious prose, and Rachel Wiegert earned 2^nd place in poetry. Taylor Christiansen brought home 3^rd in humorous prose, as did Michelle Sauser in entertainment--after flipping a coin to break a tie with Abby Holmes, who then took home the 4^th place medal.  Tessa Christiansen earned 5^th place in informative speaking.

     In informative speaking, Sarah Meuret earned 4^th place and Tessa Christiansen 5^th in varsity competition.  Rachel Wiegert earned 4^th place in humorous prose, and  Britton Hamm, JV humorous prose, earned 5^th place.

     Schindler commented that every member of the team has now earned at least one medal in competition. 

     The team competes this Saturday at Battle Creek, where they expect to meet up with some of the top teams in the state.  For instance, Battle Creek earned team runner-up honors last year at the State Contest in Kearney, edging out Plainview who finished in 3^rd place.  David City, 2006 State Champions in C-1, will also be competing on Saturday, along with other schools who have an outstanding reputation in speech competition, including  Wakefield, Stanton, Wayne, Wisner-Pilger, West Point CC, and Pierce.