Special to The Message
Reitz Memorial High School’s speech team, made up of freshmen and sophomores, finished fourth in team competition in the annual Southwestern Indiana Forensics Association tournament, which was held virtually.
Team coach Tony Fehrenbacher said “COVID-19 has forced high school speech to be creative in order to keep student interest. We have had no in-person meets. It has been an incredibly challenging year; and yet, we tripled the size of the Reitz Memorial Speech Team from last year.”
Fehrenbacher added, “Getting up and speaking in front of judges is difficult enough. But, to then do so with all of the technological challenges associated with virtual competition is mind-blowing. To their credit, these freshmen and sophomores have been successfully doing this since last November.”
The top individual performers for Reitz Memorial included:
Tournament champions – Emerica Hunter, Original Performance; Elias Beardmore, International Extemporaneous Speaking; and Katelyn Fehrenbacher, U. S. Extemporaneous Speaking.
Second place – Jose Collins, Impromptu Speaking; and Nathan Raben, U. S. Extemporaneous Speaking.
Fourth place – Kayla Keating and Hannah Bauer, Duo Interpretation; and Jack Douglas, U. S. Extemporaneous Speaking.
Fifth Place – Jackson Memmer and Blake Hershberger, Duo Interpretation; and Isaiah Hillenbrand, Prose Interpretation.
Congratulations all!