Speech team takes 1st

Nineteen teams were vying for the No. 1 spot, but Green River walked away with the honor.

The Green River High School Speech and Debate Team traveled to Casper this weekend to compete in the Kelly Walsh Invite and came home with first place. They were followed by Natrona County in second place and Cheyenne East in third.

From now on, only varsity team members will be competing, head coach Carina White said. This weekend the 41 varsity members competed against more than 300 students from across the state.

“I am really proud of our team; the first-place finish speaks to the momentum we are gaining,” White said. “It was a larger tournament with 19 schools in attendance so the win meant a lot to us.”

Even though the team is glad for the first-place finish, it must keep in mind that Cheyenne East was only competing with half of its team. White said Cheyenne East decided to split its team in half and go to two different competitions.

“We still have a lot of work to do and hopefully we will progress as the season continues and we will be competitive,” she said.

The debate team continued to dominate the competition. GRHS students in all three types of debate made it to the finals, with Matthew Pickering and Ramsey Taliaferro winning public forum debate.

White said trying to determine which teams will be the most competitive for GRHS is challenging.

“There is some real talent out there from many schools, not just in the 4A division.,” she said. “At a speech and debate tournament, even though the winners are broken out by class, we compete against everyone. So in any given round students are competing against other students in every division.”

As far as 4A schools go, Cheyenne East and Natrona County were the biggest competition this weekend.

To prepare for this week’s competition in Star Valley, the team is modifying its cases and perfecting its pieces.

“I am anticipating a very strong showing at Star Valley,” White said.

Kelly Walsh Results

Congress: Matthew Pickering, third place, Rebecca Shamer, fifth place, Shelbee McFadden, Rachel Heisinger and Ramsey Taliaferro, finalists

Humor: Raymond Garcia, first place, Amber Gambles and Will Allen, semifinalist

Informative: Mikki Scott, third place

Oratory: Spencer Travis, semifinalist

Extemporaneous: Levi Hren, fifth place, Dallin Kurth, Spencer Travis and Alex Shafe, semifinalists

Lincoln Douglas debate: Jessica Petri, second place, Rachel Heisinger and Mikki Scott, third place

Public forum debate: Ramsey Tallifero and Matthew Pickering, first place and Will Allen and Dallin Kurth, third place

Cross examination debate: Danny Christensen and Caleb Ragsdale, third place

Drama: Will Allen and Kami Lloyd, semifinalists

Program oral interpretation: Kami Lloyd, Olivia Nielsen and Hayley Cloward, semifinalists