KEARNEY — The strength of speech programs in Northeast and North Central Nebraska was on full display Friday as three area schools claimed team titles to cap the second day of the 2018 state speech meet at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
In Class C2, Hartington-Newcastle topped the field, while Plainview earned the Class D1 title and Verdigre took top honors in Class D2.
But that wasn’t the extent of the area domination.
In Class C2, Crofton finished second and Howells-Dodge fourth behind Hartington-Newcastle in the team race. Wausa finished third, Humphrey High fourth and Bancroft-Rosalie fifth in the Class D1 competition and Chambers finished fifth and Stuart sixth in Class D2.
Class C2, D1 and D2 schools competed across campus Friday, following Class A, B and C1 high schools on Thursday.
Here’s a roundup of students from area schools who finished in the top three in the various speech competition categories:
Class C2
Duet acting: Crofton’s team of Hannah Van Heek and Connor Dahl finished third.
Entertainment: Sam Harms of Hartington-Newcastle finished second and Sam Van Metre of Creighton finished third.
Extemporaneous: Brian Potts of Laurel-Concord-Coleridge finished third.
Informative: Katelyn Steffensemeier of Howells-Dodge was first, while Taylor Schieffer of Crofton was second and Alexa Lammers of Hartington-Newcastle was third.
Oral interpretation of drama: Crofton’s team of Miles Bossman, Connor Dahl, Thomas Honeywell, Tyler Janssen and Gabriel Potts was first. The Howells-Dodge team of Ellie Sheaks, Katelyn Steffensmeier, Dax VanLengen and Holly Tomcak was second, while Hartington-Newcastle was third with Abbe Morten, Shaye Morten, Autumn Lammers, Sam Harms and Dylan Dendinger.
Humorous prose: Devon Dohrman of Atkinson West Holt was first.
Poetry: Rebecca Swanda of Howells-Dodge was third.
Persuasive: Haley Arens of Crofton was third.
Class D1
Duet acting: Plainview’s team of Austin Choat and Kylie Mosel was second.
Entertainment: Morgyn Christiansen of Plainview was first, with Grace Rittscher of Clearwater-Orchard second and Kaitlyn Kumm of Wausa third.
Extemporaneous: Tom Lundberg of Wausa was second and William Hagge, also of Wausa, was third.
Informative: Elizabeth Kment of Plainview finished first, while Trinity Young of Humphrey was third.
Oral interpretation of Drama: Plainview’s team of Brittani Wacker, Matthew Bonta, Morgyn Christiansen, Matthew Hoffmann and John Novicki was first.
Humorous prose: Bancroft-Rosalie’s Anna Currier was first, while Austin Choat of Plainview was second.
Poetry: Chris Bialas of Humphrey finished first, while AdeDamola Akinnigbagbe of Plainview was third.
Serious prose: Anna Currier of Bancroft-Rosalie also topped this category, while Joseph Hiatt of Boyd County was third.
Persuasive: Brittani Wacker of Plainview finished second.
Class D2
Duet acting: Ewing’s team of Katie Hawk and Sidney Stallbaum finished first, while Emma Jonseth and Brooke Ehlers of Chambers finished third.
Entertainment: Megan Cook of Verdigre finished first, while Lydia Behnk of Elgin was third.
Extemporaneous: Zachary Michka of Stuart finished third.
Informative: Jamie Koenig of Chambers was second.
Humorous prose: Isaac Cook of Verdigre finished first.
Poetry: Stephanie Shakespeare of Verdigre finished first, while Kinnison Kunz of Stuart was second and Ashley Connell of Keya Paha County was third.
Serious prose: Stephanie Shakespeare of Verdigre topped this category, too, while Brock Wiese of Lindsay Holy Family finished second.