ABOVE: Members of the Fairmont speech team who will compete at the state tournament next weekend. First row, from left: Erik Walker (coach), Sydney Blomster, Lilly Laven, Solveig Senf, Shae Wheeler, Abi Peyman. Second row, from left: Oliver Thedens, Grace Simpson, Alayna Haefner, Bel Lutterman, Selvin Forsythe, Kathleen Walker (coach). Third row, from left: Miles Duffey (coach), Kelsey Hunter, Andrew Haefner, Leon Yang, Thomas Hamlet, Dominick Lund-May, Isaiah Lockwood. Submitted photo.

FAIRMONT– Fairmont High School’s speech team will be sending 16 students to the state competition after once again sweeping the section qualifier meet. It will be the largest number of speakers the team has sent to the state tournament since at least the start of the current coaches’ tenure in 2016.

This year’s section tournament was held on April 14 in Janesville. During the competition 29 Fairmont students participated in three rounds with no finals. Fairmont placed first at the event with nearly twice the number of points of runner up St. Clair. Fairmont students placed first in five categories, second in six, third in four and had three other speakers place in the top six.

Over half of the students who qualified for state are going for the first time, including two novices and one 8th grader. The speakers headed to state this year also represent a wider variety of categories than seen in previous years.

“As I look back I see some well-rounded squads we’ve taken to sections or taken to state, but this year feels very well-rounded,” said Kathleen Walker, one of the team’s three coaches.

Kathleen credited the success of this year’s team to the hard work of the students and the addition of high school English teacher Miles Duffy to the team’s roster of coaches during the previous season. One notable area of improvement can be seen in two humorous students making it to state.

“If you dig through the history of Fairmont students going to state since 2016, humorous isn’t a common advancement category,” said Kathleen.

For most speakers who attend, the state tournament will be the culmination of months of preparation and practice.

“There’s two parts of the season; the first part of the season is just write, rewrite, rewrite until it’s perfect. The second portion of the season is getting to that ideal memorized performance; trying to polish everything to a tee,” said Isaiah Lockwood, one of the speakers who will be competing at state for the first time.

Lockwood competes in great speeches wherein speakers recite abridged version of a notable speech while explaining its background and historical significance. Lockwood selected a speech from web developer and social critic Maciej Cegłowski about the long-term impacts of mass data collection. Last year he was unable to attend due to scheduling conflicts.

“I was really excited about the fact I was able to get back here; towards the end of the season last year I was doing pretty well and thinking I could make it to state, but I wasn’t able to (attend),” said Lockwood.

Fairmont’s strongest category was informative speaking wherein its students swept the top three spots. The category has participants research a topic of their choice and give an original educational presentation.

Lilly Laven is a senior on the team who presented an informative speech, placing second at the section tournament. Previously she’s attended state in 2022 and 2021.

“You have to explain why your topic is important for everyone to know about and have information on,” said Laven.

Laven’s speech is centered around superstitions and their role in society.

Shae Wheeler is one of the team’s captains. At competitions they present an original creative piece.

“It is a piece about the neighborhood witch and it’s basically a home alone situation; a group of teenagers is breaking into her house and she has to find a way to stop them,” said Wheeler.

Previously Wheeler had placed first at subsection and section tournament and this is their first time, but because their category isn’t present at the national competition, this will be the highest level of competition they can participate in.

They said one of the highlights of the season was participating in a diverse team with a close-knit culture.

“We’re a very close team which you wouldn’t really guess. We have a lot of very different personalities with all the different categories,” said Wheeler.

Both coaches and other team members agreed with the sentiment.

“We have such a great group of people on the team this year and you feel so loved and supported by absolutely everyone,” said Grace Simpson, a sophomore on the team who performs an interpretive speech with another student.

“From my perspective I’m always happy when the kids want to do well and achieve really high marks. This year I think what’s notable is they both have that and a great team culture,” said Erik Walker, another coach for the team.

“We really are close as a team so I think it’s really great to have a team you can go to for anything and you’ll always know that they have your back,” said Laven.

This year’s state tournament will be held at on April 28 at Eastview High School in Apple Valley. Last year Fairmont sent 10 students to the state tournament with three moving on to the national tournament. The school tied with Cannon Falls for fifth place.