On March 28, the speech team performs at the State competition in Kearney. The students who qualified were Seniors Abby Dietrich, Layla Fetherkile, Cael Johnson, Tyler Tegtmeier, and Larkyn Vlcek; Juniors Justin Baehr, Kailey Hartman, and Luke Hunzeker; Sophomores Haylee Plager and Ashlyn Puhalla; and Freshmen Maverick Glathar and Bella Seitz.
This team had the most people break finals at State. The following people broke finals: Tyler, Cael, Larkyn, Ashlyn, and Maverick, placing first in OID; Kailey, placing first in Exempt and fifth in Persuasive; Larkyn, placing second in Humorous; Tyler and Cael, placing third in Duet; Abby, placing third in Serious; Layla, placing fifth in Poetry, and Cael, placing sixth in Poetry. The team placed third overall at State, the highest team ranking Pawnee City has achieved.
The team's response to the end of the season was ambitious for next year. Kailey has high goals of being triple entered. Bella's goal is to place at the State level. Maverick wants to make it to the State again and hopefully make finals.
Most of the speech team's favorite memory was staying at the Airbnb the night before State. Larkyn said that this was the best senior year she could have asked for. It's safe to say the team is excited to see what they can do next year.
Great job, speech team!!