For members of this year’s Cannon Falls speech team, the season has been flying by. Since their first tournament in early February, the team has competed in eight competitions, taking home a variety of team and individual awards at each meet. 

On February 4th, the CF speech team received second place at their annual Cannon Falls Invitational, going on to win fourth place at the John Marshall Supreme Speech Spectacular, third place at the Farmington Speech Invitational, and second place at the Red Wing Invitational, closing out the month of February with a strong record.

Moving into March, the team maintained their momentum, placing second at the You Lucky Dog Tournament in St. Anthony Village, first at the South St. Paul Hilke Invitational, fourth at the Northfield Raider Invitational, and third at the Cambridge-Isanti Invitational.

Most notably, though, Cannon Falls received first at the HVL Conference Tournament on March 13. With 34 competitors across all thirteen categories, they yielded nine category champions: Meagan Pedersen in Creative Expression, Teagan Strecker in Discussion, Micah Katterjohn in Drama, Bowen Maki and Kendahl Zimmeran in Duo, Grace Miller in Extemporaneous Reading, Angel Zheng in Great Speeches, Wil Brokate in Humor, Piper O’Gorman in Informative, and Tristin Qualey in Poetry. Other award winners include second place recipients Fletcher Churchill in Creative Expression, Ava Brokate in Extemporaneous Reading, Lydia Pedersen in Extemporaneous Speaking, Cannon Quade in Humor, Grace Parks in Informative, Joanna Wu in Original Oratory, Grace Churchill in Poetry, Jessica Baszuro in Prose, and Lauren Ritz in Storytelling. Additionally, Hades Kammerude received fifth place Creative Expression, Torin Strecker received sixth place in Discussion, Gavin Harrinton received an honorable mention in Discussion, Emily Breland received sixth place in Drama, Lauren Capelle received fifth place in Extemporaneous Reading, Charles Fick received third place in Extemporaneous Speaking, Lily Wagenknect received fourth place in Humor, Willow O’Gorman received fifth place in Humor, Adelaide Anderson received third place in Poetry, Min Ammerman received fourth place in Prose, Sara Auger received third place in Storytelling, Aubry Conway received fourth place in Storytelling, and Henry Nygaard received fifth place in Storytelling.

Having secured their title as HVL Conference Champion, the CF speech team is moving into the postseason with confidence.

On Monday, April 3, the Cannon Falls Speech team left their classes at 1:45 and traveled to Chatfield High School for the Section 1A subsection tournament. The subsection tournament of the CFHS Speech team’s postseason will be followed by the Section 1A tournament on April 15 and the State A tournament on April 29. 

The guidelines and set up for the subsection tournament are slightly different than what the speakers are used to at invitational tournaments. The biggest difference is the addition of a person to time each round. The timer ensures that no speaker goes past their designated time limit for the category, keeps the tournament running smoothly, and also adheres strictly to the Minnesota State High School League’s rules. Although another person in the room can be nerve-wracking, especially for younger members, the Cannon Falls team conquered their fears. 

The evening was an overall success. In every category, the top six individuals are awarded the opportunity to compete in Sections. Out of 13 categories, 31 Cannon Falls Speech team members are advancing onward. Champions in their categories included Tristin Qualey in Poetry, Grace Parks in Info, Lydia Pedersen in Extemporaneous Speaking, and Grace Miller in Extemporaneous Reading. Earning second place were Fletcher Churchill in Creative Expression, Teagan Strecker in Discussion, Bowen Maki & Kendahl Zimmerman in Duo, Ava Brokate in Extemporaneous Reading, Charles Fick in Extemporaneous Speaking, Angel Zheng in Great Speeches, Cannon Quade in Humorous, Joanna Wu in Original Oratory, Grace Churchill in Poetry, and Lauren Ritz in Storytelling. Gavin Harrington in Discussion, Micah Katterjohn in Drama, Lauren Capelle in Extemporaneous Reading, Lilian Wagenknecht in Humorous, and Piper O’Gorman in Info earned third place. Earning fourth place were Meagan Pedersen in Creative Expression, Emily Breland in Drama, Wil Brokate in Humorous, Jessica Wu in Info, Adelaide Anderson in Poetry, Min Ammerman in Prose, and Sara Auger in Storytelling. Hades Kammerude in Creative Expression, Willow O’Gorman in Humorous, and Aubry Conway in Storytelling earned fifth place. Sixth place earners were William Zheng in Info and Henry Nygaard in Storytelling.

After an eventful night, the students boarded the bus headed for Cannon Falls. In the time between subsections and sections, the team is working diligently to finalize and polish their pieces in order to have another successful day.

Sections are on Saturday, April 15th at Rochester Century High School, and State is on Saturday, April 22nd at Eastview High School.