Bulldog Speech and Drama
Author: MT43 News Staff Reporter
Bulldog Speech and Drama
MT43 News Speech and Drama Correspondent
Townsend Speech and Drama Bulldogs returned to action after the holiday break with a trip to Billings where they captured the Class B Drama Team Trophy; their fifth of the season. The “Daniel Johnson Memorial Tournament” was co-hosted by all three Billings public high schools and Huntley Project High School on January 5th and 6th at Skyview High School. Twenty-five schools representing all classes were there for the two-day, five-round Speech, Drama & Debate meet. There were 350+ entries among the many classifications, with many entries consisting of multiple competitors.
Scarlett McDaniel, Nykia Mondragon and Noah Borror continue their undefeated season winning the Classical Theater Event for the fifth time this season with their interpretation of Lewis Carrol’s “Alice in Wonderland.” Jasmine Thomas placed 3rd in Humorous Solo with her piece “21 Ways to Get Detention”, while Arabella McDaniel came in 4th with her Mime entry titled “Stubborn Cow.” All three Bulldog Humorous Theatre entries made the finals adding to the team points. Caleb LeLacheur & Cooper Hines spent a lot of time over the holiday creating a new piece and clearly, all the work was worth it, as they took 2nd place with “Dueling Phobias.” Right behind them were Havyn Vandenacre & Kyla Meissner with “Bad Actors” in 3rd and Riley Rauser, Logan Barkhurst, Aidan Easter & Jenna Mainwaring with “Kev Burger” in 4th place. Another new submission came from Jazlyn Martin, Hayley Reinke, Melania Lambott and Sarah Morgan in the Dramatic Theatre category which earned them a 5th place finish with “I Was There.” Rounding out the Drama Team are the ladies in Dramatic Solo: Hannah Hall and Trista Moos. Hannah’s “My Name is Amy” has been super successful this season and landed her 10th in Billings, while Trista was premiering a new piece, which debuted in 12th position.
The speech events have many more entries, as Class AA schools compete in speech and debate, but not drama. This makes each field much more competitive, especially at these larger meets. Earning points for the Speech Team were Ashley Sanderson and Creighton Wright, both participating in Spontaneous Oral Interpretation (SPOI) and finishing 5th and 8th respectively. Also competing for the Speech Team were: 16th Lexi Davies (Original Oratory), 22nd Shalyn Sentinella (Impromptu), 27th Angel Sentinella (Humorous Oral Interpretation), 27th Grace Kroeger (Impromptu) and 33rd Kayley Conner (Humorous Oral Interpretation).
The Townsend home meet will be this Saturday, January 13th and is the last one before our Bulldogs head off to Divisionals the following weekend in Columbus. Speech, Drama & Debate meets do require many volunteer judges, who require no previous experience. Please consider donating some time to this event or simply join the fun as a spectator. The award presentation at the conclusion of the meet will also serve as Senior Night for the eight outstanding Seniors on the team: Aiden, Caleb, Cooper, Havyn, Jasmine, Melania, Riley, and Trista.
