On Saturday, the Elgin Public School Speech Team competed at the Pope John Speech Festival.
As a team, they placed first and brought home the championship plaque. Individually, the team earned 19 medals.
Three events earned championship medals: Ethan Fischer and Kenny Bush-Duet, Dylan Widger-Poetry, and the OID team of Christopher Bush, Alois Warner, Kenny Bush, and Jaime Hoefer.
Jaime Hoefer earned a runners-up medal in Serious Prose
Lisa Dohmen placed third in Humorous Prose.
Earning 4th place medals were Tyler Smith in Entertainment, Katie Polk in Serious, and Lisa Dohmen in Poetry.
Morgan Carpenter placed 5th in Humorous Prose.
Bringing home 6th place medals were Zoey Bergman and Alois Warner in Duet, Paige Nichols in Entertainment, and the OID team of Dylan Widger, Taya Voborny, and Zoey Bergman.
The coaches attribute the team’s success to a lot of hard work.
“It’s just a busy time of year, and these kids are pulled in so many directions,” said co-coaches Stacy Shumake-Henn and Jessie Reestman, “so we always appreciate the time they dedicate to practicing.”
They are also thrilled with the success, especially during this time of the season.
“It’s nice to see good things happen for good kids. They are a fun group to work with, and they enjoy competing.”
MONDAY
Members of the EPS Speech team earned the NVC East Runners-up Plaque and brought home fourteen medals following conference competition on Monday.
OID members Christopher Bush, Alois Warner, Kenny Bush and Jaime Hoefer were crowned Conference Champions.
The Duet of Alois Warner and Zoey Bergman were named Conference Runners-up.
Ethan Fischer and Kenny Bush earned 3rd place medals with their duet.
Also place 3rd was Dylan Widger in Poetry and Katie Polk in Serious Prose.
In Entertainment, Paige Nichols placed 4th and Tyler Smith placed 5th.
Sixth place medals were earned by Lisa Dohmen in Humorous Prose and Jaime Hoefer in Serious Prose.
Earning Superior Ratings were Lisa Dohmen in Poetry, the OID of Dylan Widger, Taya Voborny and Zoey Bergman, and Morgan Carpenter in Humorous Prose.
Coaches Stacy Shumake-Henn and Jessie Reestman were thrilled with the team’s performance.
“It was nice to see so many strong performances today. The kids have really been working hard to polish their pieces for this time of the season, so it’s nice to see that pay off for them.”
The team’s next meet is Monday at Cedar Rapids. They will then compete at the D2-3 district contest in Ewing on Wednesday, March 18.
Wednesday, five team members will travel to the Riverside meet, which was postponed from an earlier date.
