State Speech is a Success
by Ryan Gaunt
March 24, 2008
Andrew Halsey and Nick Lukens took second place in state in duet acting, and the Pierce speech team placed twelfth at the state speech contest on Tuesday, March 18 at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. Pierce High sent six students--who had qualified when Pierce placed first in the district--to compete in the state meet. The six performed well in the toughest competition. The speakers competed in two rounds, and the top six of those two rounds got to compete in finals. Pierce’s representatives were Andrew Halsey, Nick Lukens, Maggie Echternacht, Natasia Otto-Berglund, Kyle Rohrich, and Kara Polt.
Halsey and Lukens were the only two from Pierce who were double entered. Halsey competed in humorous prose, while Lukens competed in serious prose along with duet. Although the two did not place individually, they performed masterfully as a duo to take the second place in the state in duet acting.
Maggie Echternacht competed in entertainment speaking, Natasia Otto Berglund competed in serious prose, Kara Polt competed in persuasive speaking, and Kyle Rohrich competed in extemporaneous speaking.
Nick Lukens performed very well in serious prose. He finished third in both rounds and missed finals by only one place. Another speaker who was close to making finals was Kara Polt, who finished third and fourth in her first two rounds and just barely missed out on finals.
All the speakers competed very well. One of the most amazing performances of the state tournament was from Kyle Rohrich, according to speech coach Mrs. Crys Bauermeister, who said, “His topics were all over the board, not just national but international, and he was able to mold them together to create a good speech.”
Pierce had won first in a very competitive district to qualify speakers for state. All other district teams placed in the top twenty in the state contest, a feat which Bauermeister said “shows what tough competition we face.”
The speech team will celebrate further and receive additional awards at their annual spring awards banquet in May.
