A tiebreaker at the Saturday’s Adrian Speech Invitational left Luverne in second place.
The LHS team tied with Windom High School for the first-place large school trophy, but Windom scored one more first-place finish in the meet than Luverne did to take top honors.
“Luverne had two and Windom had three (first place finishes),” said coach Caroline Thorson.
Fifteen schools competed at the annual event for a total of 226 participants.
Twenty-five LHS students competed in one or more of the 13 speech categories. Blue ribbons are awarded to students one place out of the medal rounds.
Results for the LHS team are as follows:
•Creative expression: Solveig Tofteland, first; Meagan Hansen, blue ribbon.
•Discussion: Alexa Chesley, second; Melanie Rittenhouse, fifth; Burke Johnson, blue ribbon.
•Extemporaneous reading: Nicole Hoogland, second.
*Extemporaneous speaking: Chance Tunnissen, first; Parker Carbonneau, second.
•Humorous interpretation: Gunnar Oldre, second; Luke Thorson, sixth.
•Original oratory: Sophia Lanoue, fourth; Katherine Pizel, sixth.
•Storytelling: Xavier Carbonneau, fifth; Hannah Baker, sixth.
At least one Luverne student competed in each of the speech categories. In many instances, Luverne has two or more members competing in the same category and placing in competitions.
“That is a real bonus for our team — to have competitors in each category,” Thorson said. “It makes us not only a well-rounded team, but also a very competitive team.”
However, Luverne has only two freshmen competing on this year’s team.
“As all coaches do, we continue to look toward the future by encouraging young students to join the team,” said Thorson, who handles the coaching responsibilities with Gavin Folkestad.
“Starting young allows you to hone your skill, learn from more veteran members, and have lots of opportunities to compete and grow,” she added.
Other benefits of speech competition include building lifelong skills, being a part of a multi-age/grade team, and making friends from other schools.
“Our numbers (40 students) are high in upperclassmen and lower in younger grades,” Thorson said. “We would really like to encourage others in the freshman class and middle school to give speech a try.”
The team’s next meet is Saturday in Redwood Falls.