Out of the ordinary
The CF Speech team plunges into the tournament season and brings home their first trophy of the year.
Though the exercises may seem quite silly, warm-ups very important part of every Saturday for speechies.
Walking through the hallways after school, one might find themselves surrounded by a dangerously outgoing group of people. Nasal voices to the left, fake crying to the right, flailing hands every which way. The cause of this ruckus? Speechies. As the days drew nearer to the first tournament of the 2020 Speech season, participants spent hours after school perfecting their pieces for the trip to Andover High School taking place on the fast approaching Saturday, January 25th.
Stress filled the minds and hearts of these speakers. This was the earliest a tournament has ever been. Normally, on this date, the team would hold what they call workshop; the day when everyone meets for an all day practice to perfect what they are working on. This year was very different, though. Everything was moved forward a week from what it normally was. Frantic scrambling began as participants attempted to get themselves and their speeches tournament ready. Coaches had decided that they were only going to send “veteran” speechies to this tournament. It was too early for the new folks to be ready enough to go, and they like to start everyone off at the following Saturday’s tournament, at Cannon Falls, which is normally the first tournament the Bombers participate in. Despite this executive decision, 3 new people decided to take the chance and jump right in. These daring students were Poetry participant, Miah Barsness, and Discussants, Connor Loeschke and Kaylee Frenette. Barsness has no regrets going, stating, “I am really glad that I got to start out at the Andover tournament because it is bigger than most of the other tournaments. I have now seen the big time, competitive side of speech, so it only gets better from here.”
Not to mention that typically, the first tournament does not include finals; an extra round for the top scoring 6 to 8 participants in each category. It is one of the most stressful situations for a speechie to be put in. They’re final rank relies solely on this last performance. Despite this, many of Cannon Falls members were quite successful. Two people brought home a first place medal; Emma Watson for Humorous Interpretation and Bryson Felton for Storytelling, neither of which was an easy feat. When asked her thoughts when she heard her name called as the first place winner, Watson told that she could think only of the pride she felt for her fellow competitors. “It takes a lot to get up and make a fool out of yourself in front of strangers.” Many others on the team came close with second and third place awards. This combined with all of the hard work by the rest of the team brought Cannon Falls the first place, large team award.
Even though the tournament was earlier than coaches and speakers are used to and many people were finishing their pieces the night before, it was quite a successful day for the Bomber Speech Team and participants are excited to see what they will be able to accomplish on the weekends to come. So, be not afraid of the nutty kids talking to walls! They’re doing their job, perfecting their speeches, and preparing themselves to make Cannon Falls proud.
Hi! My name is Jessica! I’m a junior who very occasionally writes or draws things for the lantern. I also can be found on the soccer field and on the...