It was a bright and early morning as the Speech and Debate team hit the road last weekend for the Midland Tournament. After several hours of practice and research leading up to the tournament, the students definitely left their mark on the competition.
The team brought home three top Novices in Congress, Informative Speaking, and Poetry. Additional awards were 7th place in Informative Speaking, 4th in Duo Acting, and 2nd place in Prose Interpretation.
“James Franks was named Top Novice in Congress. This was his first time competing in any tournament, so this was an unexpected honor. Mallory Winett was named Top Novice in both Informative Speaking and Poetry. She is doing incredibly well for her first season competing. Danielle Duff placed 7th in Informative speaking with an awesome speech about the space program. Kendall Rigney and Drasti Patel placed 4th in Duo Acting. This was their first time competing with this piece, and they killed it! Drasti Patel also did awesome in Prose Interpretation placing 2nd overall,” said Speech and Debate advisor, Heather Byars.
Byars is incredibly proud of how the team performed, especially in such a large competition.
“This was a huge tournament with some serious competition from some of the larger programs in our area. There were over 200 students competing this weekend,” said Byars. “I am so proud of the hard work, time and energy that these students put in. Not many students will give up a Saturday to get in a school van at 6 AM to drive two to three hours to compete all day and not get home until close to midnight. These are dedicated and talented students.”
Coming up next, the team will compete in the Canyon/Tascosa Tournament on November 17-18. The team is preparing for the next tournament and is hoping to make it into the final rounds.
“We had several students that very nearly made the finals rounds at this tournament, and wow, I think this is going to push them to be even better to make it to the finals round next time. We have been working and will continue to work on giving better critiques in class to help us truly be our best and get to that next level of performance,” said Byars.
Go get em’ Tigers! We will be cheering you on!