Speech team heads to state with high hopes

The Hot Springs County High School Speech and Debate team is gearing up for the State Tournament after a third place finish in Worland over the weekend.

A total of 20 teams competed in Worland and the Bobcats were successful in both debate and extemp.

Senior Kameron Olsen placed second in Lincoln-Douglas debate, losing his final debate in a split decision to a competitor from Cody. He also placed second in extemp.

Darren Leonhardt, also a senior, placed fifth in extemp for the weekend. Seniors Amanda Dinsmore and Eryn Robinson moved into semi-finals in duet, missing finals by just two points.

“This was, individually, kind of a rough tournament,” coach Cindy Glasson said. “I always go by the theory of ‘Any Given Sunday’, and we hit that this weekend. I’m not one to blame the refs for bad calls in football or judges for bad rounds in speech and debate, but this tournament made me really thankful for the superb group of volunteer judges we have for our home tournament.

“Ballots were all over the place, with some of our kids ranking first, first, sixth and third, something that is really unusual. The other coaches were in the same boat, watching some of their best performers dropped after preliminary rounds.”

But Glasson is still enthusiastic about what this could mean for the State Tournament this weekend.

“There’s an old saying in the theatre that a bad dress rehearsal means a superb opening night,” she said. “I’m thinking Worland was our dress rehearsal.”

Glasson said the team is more than ready for the competition and it will be the last state showing for five of the eight members of the team.

“We’ve been waiting all year for the next two weekends,” the coach said. “They are more than ready to step up and leave their mark on Wyoming Speech and Debate.”

The team departs for the State Tournament in Buffalo today (Thursday) at 8:30 a.m. The final competition for the team will be National Qualifiers next weekend in Riverton at Central Wyoming College.