Sixteen Luverne speakers participated in the Section 3A speech meet in Marshall Saturday.
As a team the Cardinals placed third. Individually, 10 Cardinal speakers advanced to final round competition and five of them placed in the top three to earn a trip to state speech competition later this week.
Earning a trip to the state competition were Shane Berning and Knute Oldre, who finished third in Extemporaneous Speaking and Discussion; Dylan Thorson, Paul Witte III and Samantha Ykema placed first in Extemporaneous Speaking, Storytelling and Discussion respectively.
Also participating in the final round were Shelbie Nath and Hannah Hoogland, who finished sixth in Creative Expression and Extemporaneous Reading respectively; Ryleigh Beers finished fifth in Informative speaking; Xavier Carbonneau and Derek Krueger finished fourth in Storytelling and Great Speeches respectively.
“The competition is very tough at this level and Coach Folkestad and I couldn't be prouder of the accomplishments of these young people,” said Caroline Thorson. “So many times throughout the season we have seen the students improve and reach personal bests during competition. The truth is the accumulation of medals and ribbons doesn't tell the whole story of successes.”
Thorson said she and Folkestad have also seen excellent leadership from senior members as mentors to underclassmen and to new members.
“They will be missed,” Thorson said.
The Class A state meet will be Friday, April 15, at Lakeville North High School.