The Chesterton High School State Speech Team lost in its bid to retain the IHSFA state championship, placing second in division three (big schools) to the 2008 state champion Warren Central. The team placed five in state final rounds but came away without a single state champion. Senior Tom Geairn was the team’s top finisher, taking second place in domestic extemporaneous speaking.

Over 90 schools and more than 500 students competed in the state finals held at Lafayette Jefferson High School. All contestants competed in three preliminary rounds – 49 qualifiers in each of the fourteen events – with the top eighteen in each event advancing to semifinals. After semifinals the top six in each event competed in a final round.

Joining Geairn in final rounds, were Sarah Alberti (11), fifth in poetry; Matt Keeley (10) and Britta Ringas (9), sixth in scripted duo; Zack Stemer (12), sixth in original performance; and Greg Gentry (12), sixth in discussion.

Students advancing to semifinals but not to finals included Adam Potrzebowski (10), who was seventh in both international extemporaneous speaking and impromptu. Also, Megan Adamczewski (10) finished eighth in domestic extemporaneous speaking, as did Manhar Grewal (11) in discussion. Junior Samantha Hunt placed tenth in prose, as did Zack Stemer in humor. Stemer was followed by Jack Deuberry, who finished seventeenth in humor.

Other semifinalists were Melissa Penfold (12), eleventh in drama and sixteenth in original oratory. Junior Rachel Marvin finished seventeenth in original oratory.

Competing but not advancing to break rounds were Geairn in impromptu, Andrea Fadel (11) in domestic extemporaneous, Tyler Fabbri (10) and Riley Golden (12) in radio, Liz Gerometta (11) in poetry, Laura Ingram (12) in drama, Kaylee Annable (11) and Jackson Fox (11) in humor, Ann Thompson (9) in original performance, and the scripted duo team of Jackson Fox and Scott Trepper (12).

“We’ve had a difficult time being consistent this year and it really caught up with us this weekend. Both Warren Central and Plymouth deserve credit for their outstanding state performances. We did have a number of our number of our underclassmen shine this weekend and that bodes well for the future. It’s been a challenging year in a lot of respects, but I’m really proud of this team,” said Coach Bob Kelly

Former team members joined the team to help with judging and to provide support. Maggie Sharpe and Alex Cook, both Purdue students, joined the team, along with Molly Deuberry and Alison Vodnoy. They assisted coaches Bob Kelly, Chris Lowery, Doug Pishkur, Amy Pavlock, Kirsten Reed, and Scott Woodhouse.

Posted 4/2/2008