Duet team places first at Kelly Walsh speech meet

Two Saratoga speech team performers received first place in the duet category at the recent Kelly Walsh Speech and Debate Meet in Casper.

Seniors Becca Treat and Kaylyn Wessel, both from Encampment High School, won first place in the duet performance category with their piece from the book "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult. The two students, who have worked as a duo for two years, received first against several 2A, 3A and 4A participants Jan. 17 and 18 at Casper's Kelly Walsh High School.

In their individual categories, Wessel also received second in poetry for her piece titled "Postcards", by Sarah Kay, and third place in drama for her piece titled "When I was Fourteen", by Dawn Saylor. Treat made it into the semifinals for poetry with her piece titled "To This Day", by Shane Koyczan.

Treat said winning first place for her duo was a big surprise, given the large competition from 19 Wyoming high schools. Their top placing also qualified them for the "Tournament of Champions" competition, held in Minneapolis, Minn. this May.

"It's definitely a confidence booster, because I didn't think we were as strong as we actually were," Treat said. "It's cool to have other teams come up to and be like 'You guys deserved it.' That's one of the coolest things, to have other people think you did as well as you did."

Wessel said she and Treat performed a piece from My Sister's Keeper because of its dramatic range and interspersed elements of comedy. Treat said she wanted something to "tug on just about every heartstring."

Later made into a film, My Sister's Keeper is a story about a girl who is expected to donate a kidney to her sister, who is suffering from leukemia.

"We wanted a piece that had a little bit of funny things in it, but we also wanted an overall drama," Wessel said. "The first two scenes are definitely comedic, with a loving sister fight, and then it's like 'bam, my sister has leukemia.' It's dramatic, but there are a few parts in between there that are just kind of cute with funny remarks. The original cutting was total drama, but we recut it after our first meet to have funny things in it."

Treat said she and Wessel will keep the same duet piece to perform for the rest of the year, and may add other elements to it or tweak it a bit. Treat has done speech and debate since she was a freshman, and said her favorite part about it is the friendships one can make.

"I like the relationships you build with all the people you're around all the time, which is something you don't always experience in sports," she said. "You get to know people on a personal level. Competing is fun, but it's definitely a perk and a small part of it."

Wessel said she has also done speech and debate since freshman year, and loves the competition excitement when first place is a possibility.

"Sometimes they only give out medals for first through third, and the best moment is when they call second place and it's not you," she said. "I know both us were wanting at least third so we weren't going home with nothing. The fact that we got first at a pretty big meet is a big deal."

The Saratoga Speech and Debate Team's next meet is Friday and Saturday at Natrona County High School in Casper.