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Speechsters open at Kelly Walsh tournament

The Bobcat Speech and Debate Team traveled to Kelly Walsh High School in Casper last weekend for their first tournament of the season.

The predominantly freshman team has been working since November, even practicing through their Christmas break, to prepare for the season opener.

The Kelly Walsh tournament is one of the largest, other than State, featuring more than 20 teams from across the state.

The PF debate team of Breeze Petty and Kyle Mosser hit the ground running, winning their first debate of the tournament. They finished with a 2-1 record, exceptional for a first foray into the event.

Freshman Reilly Russell, doing a series of poems about dinosaurs, missed breaking into semi-finals by just four points.

Hannah Hu, also a freshman, has written an oratory on the lack of real art and originality on the Internet. Her scores put her just eight points out of semis.

There are two duet teams on the squad, Courtney Junehomme and Ashley Brawley, and Tyler Kay and Katie Burrows.

Junehomme and Brawley, performing a piece on the miscommunication between the leaders of two countries, just missed semis as well, finding themselves four points out.

Kay and Burrows came the closest to breaking, missing semis by a single point. Their piece is one that everyone can relate to, calling in to a business and having to “press one” or “press two”.

“I am thrilled with their performance,” coach Cindy Glasson said. “Its been a bit different for me as a coach this year, having a team of ‘newbies’, but they were thrown in the fire and came out more excited than ever.

“They really weren’t sure what to expect, and to be honest, the Kelly Walsh tourney is a tough one. I could have possibly taken them to a little easier tournament for their first time, but this group handled themselves well under pressure.”

The team will return to Casper Jan. 27-28 for the Casper Natrona Tournament.

“Now that they have their first tournament under their belts we’ll be working on second events and tweaking their current pieces,” Glasson said. “I really expect them to get better with each tournament and be found on the winner’s stage by the end of the season.”

 

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