PC Speech named District Champs

For the first time for Perkins County Schools, every student who competed at the district speech competition made it to the final round, and seven students will be continuing on to the state meet.

The team was scheduled to hold a public performance February 28, but this event was rescheduled and a new date will be announced at a later time.

Saturday, Feb. 27, the team competed at Sutherland’s invite. Monday, Mar. 1, the team competed at the SPVA meet, and Monday, Mar. 8 they headed to Hemingford for the district meet. The team excelled at each meet, and brought home a number of medals.

Sutherland

There were 13 teams in attendance at the Sutherland speech invitational on Feb. 27, and Perkins County brought 14 students to the competition.

The format for the meet was two rounds and then a final round. Nine students earned medals across 12 events.

As a team, Perkins County finished as runner-up.

Sutherland Results:

• Informative: Rylee Huff, 3rd; Savannah Schmitt, 6th

• Persuasive: Gavin Smith, 1st; Selah Richter-Martinez, 3rd; Meghan Bishop, 6th

• Humerous Prose: Summer Postlewait, 6th

• Serious Prose: Hannah Kempf, 5th

• Poetry: Summer Postlewait, 2nd; Jessie Craig, 4th

• Extemporaneous: Gavin Smith, 2nd; Eli Busick, 6th

• Duet: Summer Postlewait and Jessie Craig, tied for 7th

SPVA

The team again headed to Sutherland, this time for the SPVA meet Mar. 1.

19 of Perkins County’s students competed at SPVA and 13 kids medaled across 13 events.

This meet had two rounds and then finals, except extemporaneous, which went straight to finals due to the number of contestants.

Perkins County took third place overall at SPVA, under Sutherland who placed second and Bridgeport in first place.

Coach Penny Hite said she is very proud of the kids this season, especially considering how they’ve risen to the occasion during a challenging year.

“It has been different to say the least, but we are very fortunate that parents have been able to come to a few meets,” she said. “They really love it when people are there to support them.”

Spva Results:

• Entertainment: Carter Krajewski, 3rd

• Informative: Savannah Schmitt, 4th; Rylee Huff, 6th

• Persuasive: Meghan Bishop, 3rd; Gavin Smith, 4th

• Humerous Prose: Triston Hite, 5th; Summer Postlewait, 6th

• Serious Prose: Hannah Kempf, 2nd

• Poetry: Summer Postlewait, 3rd; Jessie Craig, 7th

• Extemporaneous: Gavin Smith, 2nd; Eli Busick, 4th

• OID: Sophia Perez, Meghan Bishop, Triston Hite, Jeb Kohl and Blake Dolezal, 3rd

Districts

Monday, the team traveled to Hemingford for the C-6 district speech competition.

Teams at the C-6 competition were Bayard, Hemingford, Kimball, North Platte St. Pat’s, Dundy County Stratton and Maxwell.

20 students attended the meet and competed in a total of 18 events.

All 18 events made it to the final round, and Hite said this is the first time PCS has ever placed all events in the final round.

“Everyone brought home medals!” she noted.

Seven kids in six events placed high enough to attend the state meet next week in Kearney.

“The heartbreak placing was fourth place,” Hite said. “Six kids were in that spot, just one place out of going to state.”

Because of the effort all the kids put in to getting into finals, the Perkins County speech team was named the District Champion with 270 points. Sutherland was runner-up with 260 points.

“I could not be happier for or more proud of these kids,” said Hite. “The seniors are a very special group of individuals! Their leadership and the fact that they have been with me for four years just shows the dedication they have toward this team. Thank you, seniors!”

This year’s seniors were Jessie Craig, Rylee Huff, Hannah Kempf, Carter Krajewski and Savannah Schmitt.

Students who will be attending the state meet are Krajewski, Huff, Triston Hite, Meghan Bishop, Summer Postlewait, Gavin Smith and Eli Busick, and are emphasized in italics below.

District Results:

• Entertainment: Carter Krajewski, 1st; Hannah Kempf, 5th

• Informative: Rylee Huff, 1st; Savannah Schmitt, 4th

• Persuasive: Meghan Bishop, 1st; Gavin Smith, 3rd

• Humerous Prose: Triston Hite, 1st; Sophia Perez, 4th

• Serious Prose: Hannah Kempf, 4th; Caitlyn Dolezal, 5th

• Poetry: Summer Postlewait, 2nd; Jessie Craig, 4th

• Extemporaneous: Eli Busick, 3rd; Gavin Smith, 4th

• Duet: Summer Postlewait and Jessie Craig, 4th; Ella Uehling and Kailee Potts, 6th

• OID: Meghan Bishop, Blake Dolezal, Triston Hite, Jeb Kohl and Sophia Perez, 5th; Kayton Brueggeman, Hallie Fisher, Madelyn Ingold and Mallory McClenahan, 6th

The class C2 state speech meet will be held in Kearney on Friday, March 19 at Horizon Middle School.