Trojan speech advances 3 to state

• WHS speech team goes to state

Worthington High School speech team members include (front, from left) Ana Li, Jeremy Clark, David Bardan, Erin Pomranke, (back, from left) Sameera Nalla, Mariah Teerink and Jackie Martin. (Brian Korthals/Daily Globe)

Talk about it

WORTHINGTON — Three Worthington High School students will compete Saturday in the Section A competition of the 2009 State Speech Tournament at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter.

“By the time they’ve reached this level of competition, there are only tiny, minor things to look at,” said Trojan Speech Coach Linda Neugebauer. “We are polishing and perfecting tiny things such as slight gestures, slight movements, taking a good long look at all the criticisms and critiques they’ve received over the year and seeing if there is some nugget of gold that can improve them.”

The team will also prepare by watching the Section AA competition on Friday.

“Their hard work has separated them from the pack. … And a lot of it is psychological,” Neugebauer said. “The best thing I can do is help them be psychologically prepared … . The pressure can’t get to you.”

Sameera Nalla will compete in Original Oratory; David Bardan will compete in Extemporaneous Speaking; and Mariah Teerink will compete in Discussion.

Nalla, a junior and third-year speech participant, will present an original speech about redefining success.

“It’s about how taking the dictionary definition isn’t enough; you have to be fulfilled with yourself,” she explained.

Nalla has been practicing more often to smooth her speech presentation.

“I’m just focusing on my delivery and my movements because I really need to fine-tune those for state competition. It’s more intense than our normal competition,” she said.

Teerink has been reviewing judges’ critiques from past competitions and researching this year’s broad discussion topic: global human rights. In discussion competition, groups of students draw on research and personal analysis to debate and discuss a given topic with each other.

“I’m looking over my research to make sure I have every area covered as broadly as I would like, because it’s really hard to anticipate just what your topic will be. ... It’s better to know your information very well because you’re not going to have time to look over all of it,” explained the senior who has participated in speech for four years.

Teerink competed at state last year and said the competition level was higher than what she was used to.

“You have to kind of go in expecting for it to be hard to get a single word in,” she recalled. “You kind of have to lead with your body language to show that you want to speak next.”

Serving as alternates in Saturday’s competition will be Erin Pomranke, Serious Prose; Jeremy Clark, Great Speeches; Ana Li, Original Oratory and Jackie Martin, Storytelling.

Other southwest Minnesota students advancing to the tournament are:

Adrian High School: Chris Reisdorfer, Extemporaneous Speaking; Justin Feit, Humorous; Chantel Heeren, Original Oratory; Emily Lyons, Great Speeches; Fulda High School: Jared Mitchell, Great Speeches; Kirsten Pagel, Drama; Luverne High School: Brittany Liebhard, Extemporaneous Reading; Londyn Robinson, Discussion; Murray County Central High School: Dan Beech and Nicole Rohloff, Duo Interpretation; Nick Wettschreck, Discussion; Brittany Van Iperen, Extemporaneous Reading; Haley DeGreeff, Informative; Meghan Carney, Storytelling; Sam Buesing, Serious Prose; Windom High School: Katie Axford, Creative Expression; Gyles Uhlenhopp, Humorous; Sean Benz, Extemporaneous Reading; Brady Ysker-Giefer, Poetry; Claire Warner, Poetry.

Tags: state and region, worthington highschool, section a competition, state speech tournament, gustavus adolphus college, news, education