Bekalyn Swett, Natalie Bishop, Savery English, Becca Pierson, Tailynn Logan and Autumn Cornwell were among those celebrating their chance to go to the NSDA Nationals this year.
Bekalyn Swett is one of the GRHS Speech and Debate team members who qualified for the NSDA Nationals Tournament. She is also one of the new team captains who will take over next season.
The Green River High School Speech and Debate team has continued achieving notable victories as they make their way through the season.
At the end of February, the team brought home a first place win from the Star Valley Tournament for the small schools division. Competing against top schools from the region, the students delivered strong performances across multiple events.
Leading the charge with first-place finishes were Savery English in Oratory, Lillynee Janota in Drama, Tyler Davis in Impromptu and and Silas Chetterbock in Lincoln-Douglas (LD) Debate. Multiple other students had top-five finishes across a variety of events.
"Our students put in the time and effort to refine their skills, and it's amazing to see their hard work pay off," Head Coach Jericho Morrell said. "We're incredibly proud of their accomplishments."
Over the weekend of March 1, the team went to the Wind River District tournament and NSDA National Qualifier, where they won the Congress Sweepstakes and had 12 students qualify for Nationals, along with several alternates.
The team also recently celebrated two more students reaching their "Quint Day," where they reach 1,500 points in their high school career.
"This is the highest degree that a student can reach in the NSDA," the team posted on Facebook. "Only 3% of all NSDA competitors reach this."
Both MaKynzee Bagshaw and Bekalyn Swett achieved this premiere distinction this season.
The new team captains for the '25-26 Speech and Debate season were also announced recently. The students stepping up to lead next year are Bekalyn Swett, Madison Korkow and Leo Evans. They will be taking over for this year's captains James Leffers, Silas Chetterbock and MaKynzee Bagshaw. Coach Morrell said this year's captains have been an inspiration to him, and he is excited to work with the new captains.
Now the team is preparing for their trip to the National Speech and Debate Association National Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa from June 15 to 20. The Green River team is hosting raffles to raise money for the trip, and will be giving away a guided fishing day with former coach Dan Parson from Solitary Angler as well as a GT Zaskar bicycle from Wanderlust Gear and Repair.
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