Osmond speech team places third at state competition

KEARNEY — On Friday, March 19, all seven members of the Osmond speech team traveled to Kearney to compete at the state competition. The students were accompanied to the meet by speech Coach Leah Kuhl and assistant volunteer Patricia Marks.

To qualify for state, competitors must place in the top three in their event at districts. After battling all day in a highly competitive district, Osmond finished as district runnerup with eight events qualifying for state.

At the state competition, participants compete in two rounds. After the two rounds are finished, scores are added up and the top six out of 18 competitors advance to finals. Placing seventh, just outside of medaling, were Austin Vinson in entertainment and Riley Wagner in poetry.

The top six of each event then go on to perform one last time in front of three judges to determine their final placing. Placing third overall was Kenzie von Rentzell with her informative speech and Kaden Polt and Riley Wagner in duet. Kaden also placed fourth in humorous.

The OID consisting of Kaden Polt, Riley Wagner, Connor von Rentzell, Erica Heiman and Allie Aschoff placed fifth. Connor also placed sixth in serious. As a team, Osmond finished in third place in Class D1 out of 36 teams.

Head coach Leah Kuhl stated, “The students and I were devastated last year when our season came to an end before districts because of COVID-19. However, I believe this is what fueled the determination and hard work these students had from the start of the season to their very last performance. Many students took on the daunting task of being triple entered and one student even picked up an extra event mid-season. I am so proud of each student’s accomplishments and truly believe that speech is a lifelong skill.”

Stay in the know!

To get news alerts on your cell phone, get the Cedar County News app in the ITunes store or  in the Google Play Store.