Speech takes first at Jackson

The Thermopolis Bobcat Speech and Debate team had a stellar weekend at the Jackson Invitational, coming home with first place in 1A-2A.

Along with their first place trophy, the team brought home eight individual awards.

Junior Hannah Hu took first place with her original oratory as well as fourth place with her informative.

All four of the team’s duets broke into semi-finals with two moving on to finals. Tyler Kay and Breeze Petty took sixth in duet with Ashley Brawley and Kris Lahoe placing third.

Three of the team’s drama pieces brought home hardware, too. Senior Lane Randall placed seventh, Reilly Russell placed fourth and Tyler Kay brought home second place.

Breeze Petty went into semi-finals in LD debate just one of only two competitors with a 4-0 record. She was awarded third place after a loss to Green River.

Several other members of the team went into semi-finals and missed moving on to finals by just a point or two, including Katie Burrows and Russell in duet, Burrows in impromptu, Aaron Hanson and Randall in duet, Hanson in POI, Kyle Mosser in both drama and impromptu, Petty in informative and Randall in humor.

“This was an incredible weekend for the Cats,” coach Cindy Glasson said. “We had someone on stage in nearly every event and sometimes two or three, standing side by side.

“I am incredibly proud of each and every one of these kids, but sometimes there is something that happens that deserves mentioning. One member of this team has come to every practice for the last two years, quietly worked hard and supported her team the entire time without actually making it out of preliminary rounds herself.

“All of that changed this weekend when Kris (Lahoe) not only broke into semis in duet, but moved into finals as well, taking her first-ever medal. This is really why coaches do what we do. That look of excitement on their faces and the million smiles that come afterward, knowing this student has put everything into it for a long time before that work finally pays off.”

The Cats have just two tournaments left in their regular season before their State and National Qualifying tournaments. Fortunately, they are close, so anyone who would like to come and see these students in action don’t have far to go.

This weekend they will be performing in Worland on Friday afternoon and all day Saturday. Next weekend, Feb. 22-23, they will be in Greybull Friday and Saturday.