JV Speech Team Wins, Varsity Sixth at Pierce
After a cancelled speech meet in Wakefield on Saturday, January 9 due to weather, the Pierce High School speech team began their season well as five varsity speakers and fifteen junior varsity speakers qualified for the finals round at their first speech meet of the 2010 season. Pierce hosted sixteen other schools on Saturday, January 16 at Pierce High School’s “Tournament of Mittens.”
Of the twenty-seven speech team competitors from Pierce, thirteen competitors earned medals: two varsity and eleven novice. Pierce’s junior varsity reigned as speech meet champions, while varsity finished sixth. Pierce’s first place finishers were novice speakers senior Chelsea Atkins in poetry and sophomore Ashton Johnson in impromptu speaking.
Other novice medalists included Jacob Jones and Micah Bahnfleth, third in duet acting, while Amy Fleer and Amy Venteicher finished fifth. Bahnfleth, Jones, and Zach Halsey were runners-up in oral interpretation of drama (OID); Cady Reinke, Amy Fleer, and Swara Fadnis were third, a bronze finish, in OID. Jones also finished second in poetry, and Bahnfleth finished third in humorous prose.
Novice newcomer Marcus Blunck earned silver medals in both entertainment and impromptu speaking. Emily Polt earned a third in impromptu speaking, and Katie Lockee medaled fourth in extemporaneous speaking. Two novice speakers earned medals in serious prose: Amy Venteicher won second place, and Bryce Attema, fourth.
Varsity speakers who earned medals were Amanda Hanlin and Kaelee Stuchlik. Hanlin finished fifth in extemporaneous speaking and sixth in impromptu. Stuchlik earned third-place in three events: extemporaneous, persuasive, and impromptu.
Following the meet’s tradition, the top competitor after the medal winners, usually sixth place, got a pair of mittens.
Speech coach Mrs. Crystal Bauermeister stated, “For our first week out, I was a little disappointed that some students did not have their speeches prepared. However, I was pleasantly surprised by some events. Now we know where we can improve for the rest of the season.”
Freshman speech team member Micah Bahnfleth said, “Considering the number of medals we got overall and winning the junior varsity division in our first meet, it was a job well done.”
The varsity and JV speech teams compete at Albion this Saturday, January 23, with the first events beginning at 8:00 a.m.
