Speech team earns second at UW tourney

Hot Springs County High School’s Speech and Debate Team competed in the virtual University of Wyoming tournament over the weekend, pitting themselves against 249 students from seven states and two countries to bring home second place in 1A/2A Sweepstakes.

Juniors Jean-Luc Willson and Jacob Randall were named the number one and number two (respectively) policy debate speakers for the tournament and placed third as a team over-all.

Willson also placed second in varsity extemp for the weekend.

Freshman Elizabeth Keller placed second in Novice LD debate, going into finals with a 4-0 record. She was also named number five by UW as a novice LD speaker.

Additionally, Keller placed fifth in novice extemp, followed by freshman Delayni Custer who came in seventh.

“This team is coming along beautifully,” coach Cindy Glasson said. “The debate side of things is phenomenal and these freshmen are some of the smartest kids I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know.

“Now that drama is over until spring the speech side of things should start showing up on stage more. We share time with drama at the first of the season so the kids have to split their time between the two, making it a little harder to get going. Once everyone is on their feet this team is going to do some great things.”

“The UW tournament was huge,” coach Lyle Wiley said. “Twenty-five teams from around the state and country. There were even teams from out of the country competing.

“Our little team performed so well in such a large, competitive tournament. I’m so proud of how hard-working these Bobcats are. They come to practice with a growth mindset. They research and cut cards, practice speeches, help each other build cases, fine-tune blocking, and help each other out all the time.

“This small group of fierce competitors is already getting a reputation around the state as the team to watch our for, and believe me, they are earning this. Hopefully, we can keep learning and growing and improving to build another special season for these Bobcats.”

The team will have their last tournament before Christmas break this weekend, the Holiday Classic, hosted by Cheyenne East. It is one of the largest tournaments of the season and includes several schools from Colorado.