Longhorn Letter

The Holcomb Forensics Squad has dealt with loads and loads of drama this year… literally. Fortunately, it wasn’t the bad form of drama most of us are used to. It wasn’t because they got in fights all the time or hated each other, but simply because that’s just what they do: Speech and Drama. Throughout this forensics season, members have participated in a variety of categories that have put their speech and drama skills to the test. Whether it was writing and memorizing speeches, acting out poems and stories, or performing skits with partners or by themselves, forensics members have proven that their skills shine. They have competed in several meets and have represented Holcomb very well this year. The last few meets of the season, and the “drama” the team experienced at the state competitions is listed below.

Eight members of the Holcomb Forensics team competed at the league meet in Lakin on March 26^th. At this meet, Colton Newell placed 2^nd in extemporaneous speaking and placed 1^st in informative speaking which qualified him for the state championship competition. Brandon Salter also competed in extemporaneous speaking and placed 6^th in informative speaking. In the duet category, Darris Hawks and Katie Robinson placed 6^th, and Luke Paasch and Melissa Conway placed 3^rd. Nick Herrmann placed 3^rd in original oration and 6^th in prose at the league meet and Eric Vega competed in both poetry and prose. In the serious solo division, Katie Robinson placed 2^nd and qualified for state champs, and Melissa Conway placed 6^th.

             At the Cimarron Forensics Meet on March 29^th, Eric Vega competed in poetry and prose and Nick Herrmann placed 3^rd in original oration and 5^th in prose. Melissa Conway placed 2^nd in original oration and 6^th in serious solo. At the Liberal Forensics meet on April 5^th Darris Hawks competed in the poetry division and placed 3^rd with Katie Robinson in their duet. Katie Robinson also placed 2^nd in serious solo. Nick Herrmann took 3^rd in original oration and 5^th in prose. On April 7^th Deerfield hosted their Forensics meet. In this meet, Darris Hawks competed in poetry and placed 3^rd with Katie Robinson in the duet division. Katie Robinson also took 1^st place with her serious solo. Eric Vega and Colton Newell also went to Garden City’s meet on April 10^th. Eric competed in the poetry and prose categories. Colton Newell competed in the informative competition and placed 7^th in extemporaneous speaking. The Regional Festival was held April 19^th and Darris Hawks, Katie Robinson, Jarvis Jarnagin, and Eric Vega participated in that meet.

             At the very end of the season, several of the forensics members took their pieces to state. On May 3^rd, Luke Paasch and Melissa Conway competed with their duet in the first three rounds of the state champs competition and placed 13^th out of forty-two duets, and missed going to semi-finals by five quality points. Melissa Conway also competed in the state champs competition with her original oration and placed 16^th. The forensics members that competed in the state festival competition also did a terrific job. State festival is a competition where performers give their piece or script only once and are given a ranking, I being the best. In this competition, those who received a I ranking are: Colton Newell – for both informative and extemporaneous speaking, and Katie Robinson for serious solo acting. Members who got a II ranking are: Nick Herrmann for prose, Brandon Salter for informative speaking, and Darris Hawks and Katie Robinson for duet. Nick Herrmann also received a III ranking for his original oration. This forensics team has really done an outstanding job this season. Good luck next year!!