Bobcat Speech and Debate earn second place at Riverton

The Hot Springs Speech and Debate Team continued their impressive season, bringing home a 1A/2A runner-up trophy at the large, dog-themed Roverton Speech and Debate Tournament held at Riverton High School on January 24-25, 2025. Ten students coached by Lyle Wiley, Alyssa Brown, Riley Jeffs, Markie Whitney, and Tyler Kay competed at the tournament that hosted twelve teams and over 280 entries. 

Bobcat debaters continue to improve as the season progresses. Junior Dean Bihr was tournament runner-up in Lincoln-Douglas debate (losing on a close split ballot in the championship). Bihr also finished fourth in Congressional Debate in a large competitive field. Freshman Clayton Keller broke into Super Congress with Bihr and finished in thirteenth place overall.

Junior Luci Andreen, Sophomore Jackson Coates, and Keller joined forces to compete as a team in World Schools Debate. The Worlds team fared well in their first attempt at the team debate, finishing in second place. Senior Rosalie Willson and Sophomore Annalyn Sharp added to the team debater success with a 2-2 record in Policy Debate and a third place finish overall.

Willson also broke into semifinals in Extemporaneous Speaking, finishing in seventh place, while Bihr once again made a semifinal break in Impromptu with a seventh place finish. Junior Kassidee Chavez also fared well in Impromptu, finishing in 28th place in a large field. 

Sophomore Aubriana Layman finished tenth overall in Poetry Interpretation after breaking into semifinals. Fellow sophomore Hayden Franklin continued to improve her Program Oral Interpretation piece, with a semifinal break and eleventh place finish. Sophomore Riley Crowder’s Informative speech also improved, as he earned 24th place in a large competitive field. Sharp’s Oratory also competed well, as she landed a top 25 finish in another big group of orators.

Head Coach Lyle Wiley reflected on the growth of the team. “It is a long season, but these students haven’t slowed down. As we approach the end of the year, it is exciting to see that there are continued improvements and endless support for each other.  We still haven’t really had the opportunity to compete at full strength too,” said Wiley. He added, “It has been a joy working with this group of students, and the larger community has especially been a big support in their progress.”

Willson, the lone senior who competed at Riverton, praised the efforts of the younger team members. She said, “This was another tourney that showed off our ability to compete with big schools at the varsity level.  We’ll definitely be competitive at culminating tournaments, and we are only going to improve from here.”

 Next up, the Bobcats will be competing at the Big Horn Invite at Big Horn High School on January 31-February 1.