Jan. 21 and 22 Savannah Speech and Debate competed at the Lafayette Irish Invitational tournament. The team competed in both acting events and debate events and did very well in both areas.
Juniors Luke Bowie and Ayden Gray placed second in Duo Interpretation. Juniors Faith Wilmes and Kaytee Zeigler placed seventh in Duo Interpretation. Senior Gabe Chadwick and junior Riley DeRoin placed eighth in Duo Interpretation. Freshmen Kenlee Maretoli and Cashlee Smith placed ninth in Duo Interpretation. Sophomore Emeline DeLapp placed fourth in Original Oratory. Freshman Phoebe Smith placed fifth in Poetry Reading. DeLapp placed eighth in Poetry Reading. Sophomores Quentin Miller and Cy Walsh placed fourth in Policy Debate. Freshman Shaden Morris and Sophomore Devin Williams placed fifth in Policy Debate and Miller placed eighth in Student Congress.
The team did so well that they ended up winning the Hillyard, Inc. Small School Sweepstakes Award for best overall team performance bringing in the first overall sweepstakes award that Savannah has won in almost a decade.
“I’m proud of the team…very proud of the program, it’s grown a lot in three years. The fact we can win a team award with a team the size of 30 against schools with teams the size of 100, it’s impressive,” head coach Mr. Andrew Gibbs said.
The team also had a tournament last Friday, Feb. 4 and 5, at Park Hill. Sophomores Elisabeth Hummer and Bryson Leslie placed fifth in Duo Interpretation. This tournament also placed Bowie as No. 1 in the state for Duo Interpretation.
“It’s the hard work from the three years I’ve done Duo and all the points I’ve accumulated with Ayden. It's really cool to see our names together at the top of the state,“ Bowie said.
Congratulations to the team and all their successes at their recent tournaments!