The California Speech Team competed in Crest Ridge on Saturday, Feb. 11. The competition was full of drawbacks, but out of 12 schools, California took second to Lexington.
Kassi Meisenheimer earned first in Poetry, fourth in Dramatic Interp and seventh in Humorous Interp. Maria Banda earned second in Prose, Alex Davis second in Radio, Caitlin Dummermuth third in Original Works, Courtney Kilmer seventh in Extemp, Regan Downing seventh in Original Oratory, Kim Summey and Corina Castillo first in Duet Radio, Ashlee Davis and Kristen Dummermuth second in Duet Radio and Maria Banda and Caitlin Dummermuth third in Duet Radio.
During the competition several things happened to upset the flow of a normal meet, but speech team members rose above these complications to earn their medals.
The first problem of the day occurred when a Duet Radio group had to cancel at the last minute. Members Kim Summey and Corina Castillo accepted the challenge of writing a script on the bus ride to Centerville and subbed. They earned 1st place, and California swept the new category.
This was the first time Duet Radio had been offered as a competitive category so it felt amazing to have all three of our entries make it to finals and then win first, second and third, said Coach Tiffany Brown.
Through the duration of the competition several other issues occurred. From the mix-up of Extemporaneous topics and Improvisation topics came confusion and a tilting of the axis. Improv groups were forced to work with subjects such as abuse allegations and birth control rather than fun, fictional catch phrases.
However, one of the most amazing feats came from the most dangerous turn of events.
Alex Davis, a longtime competitor who often finals, knew what to expect until he had an asthma attack in the middle of his radio script. He started to gasp for air and cough as he realized that his inhaler was at home. I got through it and got second, Davis said. It was a big surprise.
Davis went on to say that he has learned a valuable lesson from this. I will always bring my inhaler to speech meets now, he explained.
Abbi Fast, Ashlee Davis, Caitlin Dummermuth, Corina Castillo, Courtney Kilmer, Dylan Ramey, Haley McMillian, Justin Mitchell, Kassi Meisenheimer, Kim Summey, Kristen Dummermuth, Maria Banda, Nate Burkett, Regan Downing, Sarah Couchman, Taylor Werdehausen, Alex Davis and Nathanial Caudel competed in the meet.
Nathalie Sluyter, German foreign exchange student, went with the team to cheer the speech team on, and was so inspired that she will be competing in her first meet in Odessa Feb. 25.
With one more meet before Districts, the CHS Speech Teams continues to earn medals, trophies, and to grow closer as a team.