New Richmond forensics shares first place at home invitational

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On Saturday, Feb. 21, the New Richmond High School forensic team shared a first place finish with Baldwin-Woodville High School in a competitive 13-team tournament held at New Richmond High School.

Menomonie, winner of the last two competitive tournaments in the area, followed the teams taking third place. Twenty-five students participated for the NRHS team, and out of 39 entries, 18 placed in the top five in various categories.

Placing in multiple categories were sophomore Valerie Bruner, who placed first in Prose and fourth in Solo Acting. In addition, senior Evan Baczynksi took second place in Demonstration Speaking and fourth in Radio Speaking and senior Maria Nelson took a pair of fourth place finishes in Moments in History and Public Address.

In all, the team scored seven second place finishes; the other six included senior Hai Nguyen in Oratory, freshman Ellen Junko in Prose, sophomore Katie Kaine in Public Address, senior Krista Brusewitz in Farrago, senior Aaron Zimmerman in Moments in History, junior Jenna Leahy in Four Minute Speaking and junior Jenna Goodrich in Prose.

Sophomore Angel Tenner, the team’s first consistent Extemporaneous Speaker in 10 years, placed third in that event, and fourth place finishers included freshman Shae Armstrong in Demonstration Speaking and senior Ben Matthys in Special Occasion.

And rounding out the award winners were freshmen Sarah L’Allier in Storytelling and Bailey Matthys in Moments in History.

The team’s next action is at Baldwin-Woodville on Feb. 28, where the team has won two straight team championships. The team then attends a subdistrict competition at Ellsworth on March 2, travels to Prescott on March 14, and then moves on to Hudson on March 28 for the district competition.

Two of the last three competitions on the schedule will determine who qualifies for the state competition held in Madison April 17-18.

With its climb to the top of a tournament for the first time this season, the team has high hopes for the rest of the season, including a potential coveted fourth straight Excellence in Speech Award.

Tags: education, forensics, place