S-M speech team places second at section contest
STAPLES -- The Staples Motley High School speech team took second place Friday in the Section 6A speech tournament in Breckenridge.
Thirty area schools participated. Thirty S-M students competed.
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton took home the first-place trophy by earning 86 team points. Staples-Motley earned 78 team points. Honorable mention went to Pelican Rapids, earning 39 team points.
Of the 336 competitors, 78 advanced to the state Class A speech contest. Staples-Motley advanced 17 to the state contest:
Dramatic Interpretation -- Christopher Olsen, third place, and Sarah Fellman, fourth place.
Duo Interpretation -- Kayla Peterson and Tracey Dullinger, fourth place, and Wyat Schwichtenberg and Jacob Smith, fifth place.
Extemporaneous Reading -- Nikki Northquest, second place.
Extemporaneous Speaking -- Becki Iverson, fourth place.
Humorous Interpretation -- Carsten Hey, sixth place.
Original Oratory -- Mandy Heldman, third place, and Melody Fellman, fourth place.
Serious Poetry -- Mike Porter, second place, Anton Jimenez, third place, and Courtney Lovelace, sixth place.
Serious Prose -- Bernadette Shaffer, champion, and Francis Jimenez, third place.
Storytelling -- Ephrem Shaffer, champion.
The state Class A speech contest will be Saturday at Thomas Jefferson High School in Bloomington. The top three speakers in each category will speak at the state contest. A send-off for these students will be 3:45 p.m. Thursday at the high school cafeteria doors.