Danville High School won the Kentucky Educational Speech and Drama Association’s State Speech Tournament for the second straight year this past weekend. This open state tournament, attended by the state’s most competitive teams as they can bring as many entries as they like in each event, is a precursor to the KHSSL State Speech tournament held in March and is the largest speech event held in Kentucky each year. Danville took first with 623 points followed by Boone County with 530 and Rowan County with 507; LaRue County, Harrison County, Lexington Dunbar, Calloway County, Kentucky Country Day, Ryle, and Hazard comprised the rest of the top ten.
Danville took home four championships of the fifteen events. Senior Nate Johnson took first in Student Congress and Extemporaneous Speaking; the Group Interpretation he directed also took first (enacted by Johnson, Sam Nelson, Jack Graham, and Wright Williams). Additionally, senior Drew Lane won first in Humorous Interpretation. DHS placed twenty-eight entries into the final rounds (top six in each event) and brought home sixty-one awards overall from the contest.
Students participating in five events (with at least one public speaking, one interpretation, and one limited preparation event) competed in the Pentathlon contest for best overall competitor in the tournament. Nate Johnson placed second, Sam Nelson placed sixth, and Drew Lane placed ninth in the John Edwards Pentathlon contest named for the event’s founder.
Listed here are the award winners at the tournament by event. Students in semifinals placed in the top twelve but not the top six; students in quarterfinals advanced from preliminary rounds to the top twenty-four but not the top twelve.
Broadcasting: Dylan Crow, Taylor Hesselbach, Tyler Whitehouse Quarterfinals.
Declamation: Cloe Anderson, Madeline Salinas Semifinals.
Dramatic Interpretation: Sarabeth Marlowe, Fifth Place; Drew Lane, John Thompson Semifinals.
Duo Interpretation: Jack Graham/Tyler Whitehouse, Second Place; Sarabeth Marlowe/John Thompson, Fourth Place; Molly Anderson/Mary Thompson and Isabelle Ballard/Dylan Crow, Semifinals.
Expository Speaking: Sam Nelson, Second Place; Meagan Smith, Outstanding Novice.
Extemporaneous Speaking: Nate Johnson, Champion; Jono Beto, Second Place; Joe Weston, Fifth Place; Andrew McKinney, Calvin Steber Semifinals.
Group Interpretation: Jack Graham, Nate Johnson, Sam Nelson, Wright Williams, Champions; Emma Jackson, Drew Lane, Sarabeth Marlowe, John Thompson, Kolton Winfield Second Place.
Humorous Interpretation: Drew Lane, Champion; Jack Graham, Second Place; Waylon Duff, Sixth Place.
Impromptu Speaking: Jono Beto, Nate Johnson Semifinals; Dylan Mullins, Joe Weston Quarterfinals.
Improvisational Pairs: Waylon Duff/Kolton Winfield, Second Place; John Thompson/Wright Williams, Third Place; Dylan Crow/Nate Johnson, Fourth Place; Isabelle Ballard/Joe Weston, Mary-Scott Bugg/Haley McCowan, Jack Graham/Sam Nelson, Quarterfinals.
Oratory: Nate Johnson, Fifth Place; Andrew McKinney, Madeline Salinas Semifinals.
Poetry: Isabelle Ballard, Second Place; Dylan Mullins, Laurel Payne Semifinals; John Thompson, Quarterfinals; Tanisha Bruce and Kayla Foushee, tied for Outstanding Novice.
Prose: Dylan Crow, Third Place; Sam Nelson, Fifth Place; Isabelle Ballard, Sixth Place; Laurel Payne, John Thompson Semifinals; Taylor Hesselbach, Quarterfinals.
Storytelling: Waylon Duff, Third Place; Wright Williams, Fifth Place; Laurel Payne, Sixth Place; Meagan Smith, Outstanding Novice.
Student Congress: Nate Johnson, Champion; Joe Weston, Second Place; Jono Beto, Fourth Place; Calvin Steber, Fifth Place; Andrew McKinney, Sixth Place.
