This past weekend, March 13th, the Chesterton Speech team placed 3rd at the State tournament.  The team followed Munster who came in first and Fishers High School who placed second.  On February 27, the team competed at the State preliminary tournament, which determined which competitors would move forward to the top 24 and compete in the State elimination tournament on March 13.  

“I’m beyond satisfied with the team’s performance. Going into the quarterfinals, we were tied with Plymouth for third place. Going into the semifinals, that tie remained exact. It was the final round that made the difference for us; we had 10 finalists and Plymouth had 8, giving us an advantage that we exploited to secure third place in the state. Combine that performance with our 3 individual state championships in broadcasting, prose, and programmed oral interpretation, and I’d call the state tournament a success,” states head coach Dakota McCoy.

The team had a total of 29 entries that had made their way to the elimination tournament.

The 16 quarter finalists (top 24) included: In Broadcasting was sophomore Gigi Hanner.  In Dramatic Interpretation was senior Kaitlyn Papka and junior Natalie Nunez.  In Duo Interpretation was Nunez and her partner, junior Miranda Miller.  In Humorous Interpretation was junior Heidi Boltze and sophomore Josh Hoover.  In Impromptu Speaking was senior Tim Wheeler and junior Hamza Sahli.  In Informative Speaking was sophomore Jackson Dudek.  In International Extemporaneous Speaking was Sahli.  In Original Oratory was senior Anna Sanders and Gigi Hanner.  In Poetry Interpretation was senior Alicia Drewes and freshman Ariel Rodriguez.  In Prose Interpretation was senior Rebecca Mueller and sophomore Josh Hoover.  

The 3 semi finalists (top 12) included: In Discussion was senior Elia Livovich.  In Prose Interpretation was Anna Sanders.  In United States Extemporaneous Speaking was junior Mark Jewison. 

The team came out with 10 finalists (top 6).  In Broadcasting, Jackson Dudek placed 3rd.  In Dramatic Interpretation, Miranda Miller placed 6th.  In Humorous Interpretation, junior Dylan Leavitt placed 4th.  In Impromptu Speaking, Mark Jewison placed 6th. In Informative Speaking senior Mattea Sklut placed 4th and Rebecca Mueller placed 3rd.  In Program Oral Interpretation, Dylan Leavitt placed 6th.  

Out of the 10 finalists there were three State champions.  Mattea Sklut was the tournament champion in Broadcasting.  Senior Lily Roberts was the tournament champion in both Program Oral Interpretation and Prose Interpretation.  Roberts was not only the double champion of the tournament, but was the first female to become the State champion in Program Oral Interpretation since it was brought into the Indiana State Speech Tournament. 

“I honestly came out of rounds feeling bad about my performances. I wasn’t feeling them in a way that I usually did. But, I was shocked and so insanely grateful for my results,” says Roberts of her performance.