Luverne speech team finishes fourth at home meet Saturday

Luverne finished fourth Saturday at its own speech invitational.
Fifteen teams vied for the team trophies given to small and large schools.
Brandon Valley High School took the small school trophy while Russell-Tyler-Ruthton was the large school team champions.
For Luverne, seven speech team members were recognized for their performances.Results are listed below. (Blue and red ribbons are awarded to participants who place one and two places, respectively, from the medal round.)
•Discussion: Cassi Chesley, blue ribbon; Makayla Oechsle, red ribbon.
•Extemporaneous speaking: Parker Carbonneau, first; Zander Carbonneau, second.
•Great speeches: Nora Louwagie, fifth.
•Informative speeches: Jessika Tunnissen, second.
•Original oratory: Roselynn Hartshorn, third.
Saturday’s invitational featured 181 students, the largest tournament coach Gavin Folkestad has hosted during his 13-year tenure.
“We had a lot of great parent volunteers who helped with concessions and lunch for the judges’ lounge,” he said.