Bobcat drama team brings home fourth from state

The Hot Springs County High School Drama Team competed in the Wyoming State Drama Competition this past weekend in Laramie, taking fourth place overall in the 3A category.

Mary McGillivray, the High School Drama coach, said, “I was very proud of the work the students did, not only at State but also leading up to State. We missed tying for third by two points in the 3A category.”

It has been several years since the Bobcats have competed in 3A.

“This is a very young team,” McGillivray said, “with 11 out of 17 students competing for the very first time, eight of those students being freshmen.

“Judges were consistently commenting that they could not believe it was the first time for these students to compete and that they could not wait to see the students continue to grow. The students who had competed before also received many compliments on how much they have improved.”

The students performed well in each of their individual categories, competing against students from across the state registered in that category. Each category can have anywhere from 20-60 students competing.

In first year costume design, Chauncey Morris took first place and Hannah Hu took 10th place, with both students receiving an All State medal for their work.

In the makeup categories, Stormy Cox took second place in both third year Realistic Makeup and first year Fantasy Makeup. She also received an All State Medal for her third year design.

Ashley Brawley took seventh place in first year Fantasy Makeup while Ben Manning took fourth place in third year Fantasy Makeup, also received an All State Medal.

Hannah Hu brought home second place and an All State Medal with her first year Realistic Makeup Design and Savana Meier took sixth place with her first year Realistic Makeup design.

Dakota Prosser earned fifth place with his second year Lighting Design and Mikayla Lanik placed eighth with her Lighting Design in the second year category.

In first year Scenic Design, which had over 30 competitors, Breeze Petty took 11th place and Darian Macie took 15th.

Krynn McGinty earned 15th place in first year Publicity, which had over 30 competitors.

Emily Anderson took 15th place with her Original Script - Duet in a category with 20 competitors. Mikayla Lanik and Krynn McGinty both took 15th place with their Original One Act scripts, which had 22 competitors. Savana Meier received 14th place with her Original Monologue script, which also had over 30 competitors.

Katie Burrows earned a Superior, the top score, in her Musical Theatre Solo category, and also earned an Honorable Mention for her role in a humorous duet with Tyler Kay, which took 13th place.

Aaron Hanson and Ryan Slagle both earned an All State Medal for their humorous duet, which took 11th place.

Chauncey Morris ranked fifth, and brought home an All State Medal for her humorous monologue.

Emily Anderson and Aaron Hanson both received 15th place in Dramatic Monologues, a tough category with over 50 competitors.

The proscenium one act show, “I Never Saw Another Butterfly”, took sixth place overall with Aaron Hanson and Tyler Kay receiving an Honorable Mention and Deanna Owings receiving an All State medal.

“This team not only performed well within each category, but also displayed a stunning level of sportsmanship,” McGillivray said, “not only between each other but in regards to other teams as well.

“One of the students shared his airbrush with another school during makeup application because theirs clogged and would not work. This is what the arts are all about. Yes it is a competition but they are also collaborating and growing by sharing their ideas.

“I could not be prouder of this team and how they conducted themselves at State. They represented our team and school district with a professionalism beyond their years.”