The competition season for Lennox Speech and Debate officially started Nov. 1, 2018 at Sioux Falls Washington and ended this past weekend at the State Speech and Debate tournament held at Sioux Falls O’Gorman.
At the State tournament, three LHS students made the final round of the “A” speech competition. Aidan Sanchez, senior, took first place for the second year in a row in international extemporaneous speaking. Nathan Waltjer, senior, placed sixth in domestic extemporaneous speaking. Xavier Larson, freshman, placed fourth in original oratory. Also competing and providing valuable team points were Austin Metivier, junior; Anna Calhoon, sophomore; and Kaylee Bosma, freshman.
While the team had a strong showing in individual events, they did struggle in the debate portion this year. The team placed fourth this year just nine points behind Beresford High School.
Two weeks before the state tournament, the students participated in the national qualifier for the National Speech and Debate Association. The tournament held at Watertown pitted students against schools in their district that included Aberdeen Central, Brookings, Watertown, and Mitchell to name a few. At that tournament, the top two students in each event qualified to the National Tournament that will be held in Dallas, Texas this June.
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