Pair of Westonka Speech Teams Advance to '13 State Tourney

By Lorrie Ham

The Mound Westonka High School speech team traveled to Wayzata High School on March 14 to compete in the Section 6AA Tournament. Seniors Naomi Jackson and Zack McDowell and junior Claire Erickson advanced to Final Round Competition.

Jackson placed 8th in Humorous; McDowell placed 3rd in Extemporaneous Reading and Erickson placed 3rd in Poetry. Both McDowell and Erickson will advance to the MSHSL Speech Tournament in Blaine on April 19.

The MWHS Speech team competed in seven tournaments during the 2013 season. Standing out this season are seniors Jackson and McDowell. Jackson placed 2nd in Humorous at the Maple Lake tournament in February. McDowell took home 4th in Extemporaneous Reading at the Chanhassen Tournament in January and 3rd at the Maple Lake tournament.  

The 2013 Speech team is the largest to date and includes 33 students in grades 8-12.  The young team has many new members, with three-fourths of the team in grades 8-10.

The Wright County Conference Speech tournament was hosted in Dassel-Cokato on March 7. Seven schools competed for medals in 13 different categories.  

McDowell placed 1st in Extemporaneous Reading, making him the Wright County Conference Champion in that category.  

Jackson placed 4th in Humorous, sophomore Sam Taggart placed 4th in Extemporaneous Reading, eighth-grader Max Taggart placed 4th in Great Speeches and sophomores Conner Demchuk and Zach Hoh placed 4th in Dramatic Duo.  

Senior Monica Shukle placed 6th in Drama, junior Claire Erickson placed 5th in Poetry, sophomore Isaac Leif placed 6th in Storytelling and freshman Claire Rude placed 6th in Discussion. Junior Emma Clifford and sophomore Jack Smyth placed 5th and 6th respectively in Extemporaneous Reading.  

“We had the largest number of students ever on the Speech team this year and many new faces," coach Anitra Trapp said. "This team is very energetic and professional and really worked to improve themselves over the five month season."