Noblesville High School’s speech team traveled to Glenview, Ill. on Nov. 23 to compete in the 34th edition of The Glenbrooks Speech & Debate Tournament. Seven members of the NHS speech team competed in dramatic interpretation, humorous interpretation, duo interpretation, original oratory, extemporaneous speaking, and prose/poetry.
Seniors Victoria Houghtalen, Chase Elliott, Pete Freeman, Luis Sorto, Kelly Weaver, Kristen Pimley and Sara Highers represented the team.
The Glenbrooks Tournament is the largest regular season speech and debate tournament in the nation. More than 217 schools were represented at this year’s contest, including 1,800 speech and debate entries. Speech competitors compete in four preliminary rounds before cuts are made to quarterfinal, semifinal, and final rounds.
Highers placed 26th in the humorous interpretation event with her interpretation of “Waffles After Dark” by Heather Martz. Elliott and Freeman competed in the duo interpretation category, placing sixth overall out of nearly 100 duo entries. Their interpretation of the book “Wigfield” by Amy Sedaris, Paul Dinello and Stephen Colbert, earned high praise from the tournament’s pool of judges. Elliott and Freeman’s break into a national final round is a first for the team.
The Noblesville High School speech team is comprised of more than 30 students who compete in multiple regular season tournaments across the state. The team is currently ranked eighth overall in Indiana and in the top 10 percent nationally, as reported by the National Forensic League. The team is coached by Evan Elliott, a NHS graduate and local real estate agent.