The Green River High School Speech and Debate Team kicked off the season with a second-place finish at their first meet of the season.
This past weekend, the team traveled to Rock Springs for its tournament. Unlike previous years, the entire team attended the tournament. Head coach Carina White said in previous years only the novice team participated, but this year she decided the whole team should go. Cheyenne East took first place and Green River came in second.
“They did exceptionally well, especially considering we have only been at practice for three weeks,” White said.
Three weeks isn’t a lot of time for a speech participant to find a piece, add movement to each character, memorize the piece and then have it ready for competition. For debate, there is a lot of researching and writing the case for the debate topic.
“We asked them to be ready to compete in one event and while some did more than one, we were by no means at full force,” White said. “We were also missing several important members due to fall sports.”
White said Cheyenne East had its whole team of 75 students there and most of them competed in five events each. A lot of the teams on the east side have been practicing since August.
“It is like riding a bicycle and it certainly takes a push to get started; this tournament was our push,” White said. “We have work to do across the board. We are still a work in progress and we are hoping to pick up some new members this week as fall sports end.”
Some students standing out to White this week include Abbie Grubb and Dallin Hoyt, who tied for first in Lincoln Douglas debate. Abbie’s younger brother Caeden Grubb carried on the family’s tradition of excellence by winning novice Lincoln Douglas. Raymond Garcia beat out a student who took second place in the nation this summer at nationals to win humor. Gregory Marchal, Leona Grimes and Robyn Jaurergui all broke to out rounds in three events. Breaking out means a competitor did well enough in the preliminary rounds to advance to the final rounds.
“They went above and beyond our expectations, all of them had success in some fashion and most broke into out rounds,” she said. “We had several who won their event.”
The team has a lot of work to do for future tournaments. The team competes in 12 different events and students may compete in up to three events for the team. Four coaches, who are experts in different areas, help the students by working together and communicating on which students are ready.
“We also have exceptional mentoring on our team from not only our captains, but the varsity in general,” White said. “We are a family, a very large family and our size gives us strength in all events.”
The team has already got together and set goals and that includes defending their state title and wining districts.
Coaches have already been talking to individual members about what they want to accomplish this season. The coaches are encouraging students who haven’t added a second event to do so.
“We also have three students that might achieve the goal of having qualified for nationals all four years of their high school career,” White said.
“We want to continue to help students gain confidence, and grow from their participation in speech and debate. This year is going to be amazing,” White said.
Rock Springs Tournament
Congress: Arlin Johnson, first place, Matthew Pickering, second place, Patrick Marchal, fifth place, San Bayles, Savrina Karimi and Dallin Hoyt, semifinalists
Varsity Oratory: Sarah Kropf, first place, Robyn Jauregui, fourth place
Varsity Lincoln Douglas: Abbie Grubb and Dallin Hoyt, tied for first, Chase Kontz, third place
Varsity Poetry: Elaine Comer, Lynzi Johnson, Leona Grimes, semifinalists
Varsity Extemporaneous: Gregory Marchal, third place, Chase Kontz and Levi Hren semifinalists
Varsity Public Forum: Robyn Jauregui and Shelbi McFadden, third place
Varsity Cross Examination: Danny Caleb, third place, Gregory Marchal, second place, Sam Bayles and Levi Hren, third place
Varsity Informative: Mikki Scott, third place, Leona Grimes, fifth place
Varsity Impromptu: Gregory Marchal, second place, Chase Kontz, sixth place, Dallin Kurth and Robyn Jauregui, semifinalists
Varsity Program Oral Interpretation: Karlee Cutler, third place, Sarah Kropf, fourth place, Rachel Heisinger, semifinalists
Varsity Humor: Raymond Garcia, first place
Varsity Duet: Sara Kropf and Karlee Cutler, third place, Amber Gambles and Trista Perry, sixth place, Raymond Garcia and Katy Robinson, semifinalists
Novice Cross Examination: Sam Quick and Rebecca Poling, third place
Novice Lincoln Douglas: Cardenas Grubb, first place
Novice Public Forum: Alex Erdmann and Jauslyn Jones, third place
Novice Humor: Wolfgang Dittman, third place, Elijah Kropf, sixth place, Jaron Shereda semifinalists
Novice Poetry: Olivia Nielsen, first place, Elora Siler, sixth place
Novice Duet: Trista Perry and Amber Gambles, first place, Eli Thomas and Elijah Kropf, second place
Novice Drama: Gabby Farnsworth, fifth place
Triple threat best overall
Third place, Leona Grimes
Fourth place, Gregory Marchal
Fifth place, Sarah Kropf
Sixth place, Chase Kontz
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