Bobcat speech team earns second place at Riverside tourney

The Hot Springs Speech and Debate team finished in second place in 1A/2A at the first ever Riverside Jurassic Classic Speech Tournament held at Riverside High School in Basin on January 18. Coaches Lyle Wiley, Alyssa Brown, Riley Jeffs, Markie Whitney, and Tyler Kay traveled with a team of 10 Bobcats to compete with 9 teams and over 120 entries. 

The one-day Riverside tournament excluded debate events, so Bobcat debaters had a weekend to focus on interpretative and platform events. The only debate event held at the tournament was the hybrid-debate event, Congressional Debate. Led by junior Dean Bihr and freshman Clayton Keller, the Congress competitors performed well at the tournament. Bihr placed fifth in Congress overall, while Keller finished sixth. Junior Luci Andreen took ninth place, while freshman Rylee Simpson, Sophomore Aubriana Layman, and Sophomore Annalyn Sharp tied for eleventh place in Congress.

Senior Kiesha Kraushaar continued her strong start to her last season with a second place finish in Dramatic Interpretation. Kraushaar also finished seventh in Informative Speaking, while sophomore Riley Crowder took eleventh in Informative Speaking. 

The tournament was a chance for some competitors to try out some newly cut pieces and created material. In Original Oratory, Sharp performed her piece for the first time and placed fifth overall. In Program Oral Interpretation, sophomore Hayden Franklin broke into Finals and took sixth place in her first ever performances of her piece, while Andreen finished right behind Franklin in seventh place. Franklin and Layman also tried out their Duo Interpretation piece for the first time, placing ninth in the competitive event.

In other interpretive events, Franklin broke into finals in Poetry and earned fifth place, while Layman’s Poetry piece took twelfth place overall. Sophomore Jackson Coates once again broke into Finals in Humorous Interpretation and finished fifth. 

Bihr, who had another strong tournament, broke into Finals in Impromptu Speaking, taking third place in a large competitive group.  Bihr also finished in third place in Extemporaneous Speaking.

Head Coach Lyle Wiley continues to praise the efforts of his young team. “It’s been an exciting year so far with this young and motivated squad,” said Wiley. “Every student is a supportive teammate who works hard to help each other, and I’m excited about all the learning and improvement that we are seeing from our Cats,” he added. 

The team is blessed to have a number of volunteer coaches and community members who assist the team with casework and improving performances.  Riley Jeffs, a volunteer Assistant who has contributed a lot of help and positivity over the last couple seasons, commented on the tournament.  Jeffs said, “The team keeps building on their skills. And more importantly, at this tournament, they had a good time. It’s particularly cool watching this year’s freshman grow. I’m excited to see how the rest of the season goes.” 

Next for the Bobcats is the large, two-day Riverton Speech and Debate Tournament at Riverton High School on January 24-25, 2025.