Speech team talks their way to top ranks

arrowly, the Saratoga Speech and Debate team placed third at last weekend's invitational in Evanston.

"We were lumped in with the 3A schools, and placed third overall by very slim margins. We were only nine points behind 3A winner Rock Springs, and four behind Star Valley," said assistant coach Kate Sherrod."We might not have the hardware this time, but we have the pride."

Seniors Jacob Dickinson and Miriah Scharosch placed first and sixth, respectively, in Dramatic Interpretation, while Scarosch also took third place in Poetry Interpretation, Sherrod said. Dickinson made it into the "Super Congress" round of Student Congress but did not place in the top six.

Senior Gale Jackson made it to semifinals in Humorous Interpretation, along with Duet Intrepretation team, Dickinson and Junior Maya Zeiger, Sherrod said.

Head coach Jake Mickelsen and Sherrod are pleased overall with the team's continued development. "Our upperclassmen continue to reliably break into semi-final and final rounds, and have been editing their pieces and performances based on notes and advice from tournament judges," Mickelsen said. "Meanwhile the freshmen and sophomores have shown lots of improvement after only three tournaments, and are steadily increasing their rankings one weekend at a time as they get more comfortable in competition.

"Judging from how quickly their scores have improved in what, for many, is their first season ever, Saratoga is going to be a statewide threat for several years to come," Mickelsen added.

While they didn't take first place last weekend, the team has been proving this season that they are among the best in the state. The speech team took first among 1A/2A schools at the Cheyenne Central Invite Jan. 8 and 9, which was managed by merit of doing well in finals and semifinals, Mickelsen said.

This was the second victorious weekend for the Panther performers this season, but this meet was their first large, two-day meet that had an out-of-state team. While it was the first big meet of the season, Mickelsen was proud that none of the students were too freaked or psyched out by the competition.

A highlight for Mickelsen was the sophomore public forum debate team, who ended up against seniors from Cherry Creek, a school outside of Denver. Although they were narrowly defeated in that competition, the sophomores went up against some of the biggest schools in the state and did very well.

Otherwise, Mickelsen said the whole team generally did very well. Duet team Dickinson and Zeiger were finalists, and Jackson had a stand-out performance in humor, though he did not win. "People loved his piece and laughed a lot," said Mickelsen.

The younger students have advanced spectacularly compared to how they did in Thermopolis, Mickelsen said, and he looks forward to a batch of rookies that will be competitive for years to come. There are no scripts from here on out, he said.

Mickelsen commends his team for their work ethic, describing high energy practice that results in focused kids working in teams on their speeches, memorizing and perfecting how they'll end up performing a certain piece or hitting the mark in just the right way. They drill one another hard, which helps the whole team out.

The talk jocks have to practice daily to memorize their performances as well as form sound arguments for debates. As they move forward, memorization, insight and creativity are constantly improved to help the team as a whole.

The speech team will depart for Natrona County to compete on Friday and Saturday.