On April 29, 2023, the Cannon Falls Speech team boarded the bus for the last time this season, headed to the Class A State Speech tournament at Eastview High School. They were escorted to the highway by a couple of fire trucks from the Cannon Falls Fire Department, and a crowd of supporters greeted them on the sidewalk of the city parking lot. 

The day was an overarching success for the Speech team. Of 15 students that competed at State, seven finaled. Lauren Ritz earned fourth in Storytelling; Cannon Quade earned fifth in Humorous Interp; Teagan Strecker earned sixth in Discussion; Tristin Qualey earned seventh in Poetry; and Fletcher Churchill in Creative Expression and Bowen Maki & Kendahl Zimmerman in Duo earned eighth in their respective categories. Overall, as a team, the Cannon Falls speakers earned seventh out of 188 Class A teams in Minnesota.

Additionally, all seven 2023 seniors were named to the All-State team. The All-State seniors consist of Jessica Baszuro, Ava Brokate, Lydia Pedersen, Cannon Quade, Tristin Qualey, Lauren Ritz, and Teagan Strecker.

90Speech Team Seniors: Top: Lydia Pedersen, Ava Brokate, Tristin Qualey, Cannon Quade; bottom: Lauren Ritz, Teagan Strecker, and jessica Baszuro (Cal Vande Hoef)In order to be named All-State, the seniors had to participate in 75% of the tournaments attended by the team, place top six in 12 different tournaments throughout their career, compete in three subsection and two State tournaments, and use the skills they’ve learned through speech in three other activities or places.  All of these seniors surpassed the expectations and Cannon Falls Speech is proud that they are a part of the team.

Now that the competition season is officially over for the Cannon Falls speakers, they will revel in their successes of the season, and for the non-senior members, begin preparations for next season starting in late November.