Wausa speech team takes first place in L&C meet

WAUSA — The Wausa Vikings speech team recently chatted its way to another couple of competition championships.

Wausa finished in first place at both the Lewis and Clark Conference Speech Contest on Wednesday, Feb. 9, in Creighton and the Wausa Speech Invitational on Saturday, Feb. 12.

The Vikings were victorious with 230 points at the 16-team conference meet, followed by Hartington-Newcastle with 172 points and Plainview with 124 points.

Samantha Stevens, who works alongside her husband, Kyle, as Wausa’s high school speech coaches, noted that their team members knew they had work to do in order to win the competition.

“We knew it was a big day,” Stevens said. “The kids came with all their might. I couldn’t be more proud as a coach when all the kids we brought to conference make finals. These kids make it easy to get up early and do a job that most people don’t understand.

“We speak for fun, we wake up early, we dress up and we win,” she said. “Most days, I’m humble when it comes to winning, but today I want to shout from the mountains how proud I am.”

In the varsity division of the conference speech contest, there were two sets of finals: A champs final for the top six and an honors final – under “Next in” headings – for the next six in each event.

Below is a breakdown of the Vikings’ individual results from the conference meet:

-Duet Acting, first place, champs final: Seniors Abrielle Nelson and Darla Nelson.

-Extemporaneous Speaking, first place, champs final: Junior Joe Johnson.

-Humorous Prose, first place, champs final: Senior Cole Story.

-Serious Prose, first place, champs final: Senior Tyler Baue.

-Entertainment Speaking, second place, champs final: Senior Emily Kleinschmit.

-Extemporaneous Speaking, second place, champs final: Senior Brandon Kristensen.

-Persuasive Speaking, second place, champs final: Senior Emily Woockman.

-Duet Acting, third place, champs final: Seniors Tyler Baue and Cole Story.

-Informative Speaking, third place, champs final: Senior Leah Bloomquist.

-Oral Interpretation of Drama, third place, champs final: Seniors Tyler Baue, Leah Bloomquist, Abrielle Nelson, Trey McQuay and Cole Story.

-Entertainment Speaking, fourth place, champs final: Senior Trey McQuay.

-Oral Interpretation of Drama, fifth place, champs final: Senior Reghan Bloomquist, senior Darla Nelson, sophomore Holly Johnson, sophomore Claire Kumm and freshman Colton Baue.

-Poetry, fifth place, champs final: Sophomore Sophia Wilken.

-Humorous Prose, sixth place, champs final: Freshman Colton Baue.

-Next in Persuasive Speaking, second place, honors final: Sophomore Claire Kumm.

-Next in Serious Prose, second place, honors final: Sophomore Holly Johnson.

-Next in Poetry, fourth place, honors final: Senior Emily Woockman.

-Next in Informative Speaking, fifth place, honors final: Junior Kilee Thorell.

At its 16-team home meet on Saturday, the Wausa speech team won the overall top spot with 77 points, followed by Pierce with 48 points and Crofton with 34 points.

“It was a long day for Kyle and me, staying up late the night before and then getting up early to make sure everything runs properly,” Stevens said. “But that’s old news for us; we’ve done that plenty of times.”

“It was a long day for Kyle and me, staying up late the night before and then getting up early to make sure everything runs properly,” Stevens said. “But that’s old news for us; we’ve done that plenty of times.”

The Vikings were victorious at the varsity level with 47 points, while Hartington-Newcastle finished in second place with 30 points.

Wausa also won the junior varsity level with 30 points, with Pierce coming in second place with 25 points.

“This time, the kids did something we’ve never done before,” Stevens said. “They won both varsity and JV sweepstakes. Couldn’t be more proud of the hard work this year.”

The Vikings’ individual results from the Wausa Speech Invitational:

-Duet Acting, first place, varsity: Seniors Abrielle Nelson and Darla Nelson.

-Entertainment Speaking, first place, varsity: Senior Trey McQuay.

-Oral Interpretation of Drama, first place, varsity: Seniors Tyler Baue, Leah Bloomquist, Abrielle Nelson, Trey McQuay and Cole Story.

-Serious Prose, first place, varsity: Senior Tyler Baue.

-Humorous Prose, second place, varsity: Senior Cole Story.

-Informative Speaking, third place, varsity: Senior Leah Bloomquist.

-Persuasive Speaking, third place, varsity: Senior Emily Woockman.

-Extemporaneous Speaking, fourth place, varsity: Senior Brandon Kristensen.

-Duet Acting, fifth place, varsity: Seniors Tyler Baue and Cole Story.

-Oral Interpretation of Drama, fifth place, varsity: Senior Reghan Bloomquist, senior Darla Nelson, sophomore Holly Johnson, sophomore Claire Kumm and freshman Colton Baue.

-Serious Prose, fifth place, varsity: Sophomore Holly Johnson.

-Duet Acting, sixth place, varsity: Sophomores Kate Lundberg and Cade Wakeley.

-Entertainment Speaking, first place, junior varsity: Freshman Kendall Story.

-Humorous Prose, first place, junior varsity: Freshman Colton Baue.

-Poetry, second place, junior varsity: Freshman Jessica Andersen.

-Duet Acting, third place, junior varsity: Freshmen Brady Bloomquist and Jake Munter.

-Persuasive Speaking, third place, junior varsity: Freshman Mackenzie Vanness.

-Poetry, third place, junior varsity: Sophomore Reagan Paben.

-Entertainment Speaking, sixth place, junior varsity: Sophomore Addison Wynia.

The Vikings will travel to the Crofton Speech Invite Feb. 19, to finish the regular season. Wausa will host the District D1-3 speech competition on Monday, Feb. 28.