By: Emily Guenther - CHS Journalism
The Crofton Speech team found its stroke of luck this St. Patrick’s Day, sending six people to state in multiple events at the C1-3 District Speech Meet in Homer. The team ended the day with two individual District Champions and one OID championship team.
The Warriors started competing in the first round at 9:00 in the morning. When the second round was through, the results of who had made it to finals were posted. Those placing 3rd or higher in finals qualify for the State Meet in Kearney. Senior Katie Neuharth found her pot of gold with her 1st place finish in Informative speaking. Senior Sophia Wortmann was also the district champion with her Entertainment. Speaking about the season, S. Wortmann said she, “really liked this speech season because I decided to try something new with Entertainment, and I really enjoyed it.”
Both were also a part of the state qualifying, first-place-finishing OID titled “One and All,” together with junior Natalee Steffen, and sophomores Fred Dennis and Kaden Arens. Neuharth said, “I am proud of how resilient the team was during this season, there were a lot of ups and downs, but it paid off in the end.”
Steffen also qualified in Entertainment speaking, finishing 3rd, and medaled in Poetry, but finished 4th, just missing a State qualification. The “Cinderella” OID, consisting of senior Kaija Hess, junior Brooklyn Guenther, sophomores Aven Hanson and Hudsyn Stout, and freshman Avery Arens made it to the final round as well; they placed 6th.
Sophomore Cecilia Wortmann reached the end of her rainbow in 3rd in both her individual events: POI (Program Oral Interpretation) and Extemp (Extemporaneous) Speaking. K. Arens also medaled with his Humorous Prose speech, ending the day in 6th. Last but not least, freshman Claire Marsh made it to the final round in Informative speaking and placed 3rd, so she is going to state, as well.
Though they competed on the luckiest day of the year, the Crofton speech team earned the places they got from all the hard work they put in since November. Going into the State Meet in Kearney on Friday, March 27, the two qualifying seniors spoke about the mindset they were taking with them. Neuharth said her mindset is to “have fun and bring joy to the people watching my speech.” S. Wortmann feels a sense of pride, both in herself and the other qualifiers, saying, “I feel so proud of my teammates and me for making it to state and hope we can bring home some hardware.”