Dogies are all talk

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
True crime is trending right now, and the Newcastle Speech team is right on point with the times with pieces dedicated to the subject.
Judges seem to be satisfied with this topic as three students who have committed to it have scored well in meets thus far. 
Shelby Davis, in her first foray into the Informative category has put together a piece on what makes a serial killer. She explores whether the cause is nature or nurture or something in between. 
Trinity Shroyer’s Information topic is how you analyze crime scenes, and she covers the role of the police and detectives and how to create a chain of command. 
Dakotta Wheeler’s Humor piece is called Al Literation, which is loaded with tongue twisters and alliteration. In six minutes she personifies a detective trying to solve a crime, using different accents as she changes characters. 
Jim and Lexie Stith are sharing head coach responsibilities once again this year, and both are excited with where their students are at this point in the season. The team began practice on October 1st, and have attended three tournaments thus far. They have a total of 16 students on the team, but due to conflicts with other activities, the number of participants varies.
“Our kids all have really solid pieces to which they are very dedicated,” Lexie said. “We had a lot of switching last year, but that hasn’t happened and it shows. It’s early in the season, so they will just continue to get better and better.”
The first tournament of the season took place in Cheyenne on Nov. 22 and 23, where seven students attended and two brought home hardware. 
In the varsity division, Angel Perez finished sixth in Poetry, while Shroyer placed fifth with her Informative piece in the novice division.
“We had only a smattering of students go to the first tournament, but we had some successes for sure,” Jim nodded. “It was Trinity’s first time presenting ever, and last year at this same tournament, Angel got sixth in Poetry in the Novice division and this year she did the same thing in the Varsity division.”
Though only two placed at the tournament, several broke into semifinals. Cadence Larson broke in Drama, while she, Emma Haugen and Perez all made it for Poetry. 
After taking time off for the Thanksgiving break, the team was back at it on Dec. 6 and 7 in Sheridan. Eleven students attended this meet, and nearly each went home with some hardware.
This was Wheeler’s debut competing in a tournament and she earned fourth place in Novice Humor. 
Davis, who is a veteran on the team, stepped out of her comfort zone and began competing in the Informative division. Sheridan was her maiden voyage into this pool and she made a splash by finishing fourth in the varsity division.
Shroyer finished fourth again in Novice Informative, Maggie Lorenz had her first showing of the year and took fifth place in Poetry in the varsity division, while Haugen finished just ahead of her in that event by taking fourth. 
Markie Whitney nabbed her first hardware of the season finishing ninth out of about 40 kids in Congressional Debate.
Last weekend, the squad headed to Spearfish for a tournament where ten schools were in attendance, so competition was fierce. In addition, there was no novice division which meant that the Dogies all were required to compete at the varsity level.
The team rose to the challenge with Whitney and Davis nabbing third in Public Forum Debate, Haugen and Davis taking fifth in Poetry and Informative respectively, while Wheeler finished sixth in Humor. Whitney also broke into Super Congress, but didn’t place among the top finishers. 
“I’m very proud of all the kids, because they did very well,” Lexie exclaimed. “Though Markie didn’t end up placing, she scored quite well in the lead up rounds and with 30 kids in the final, it was a very competitive arena.”
Christmas break offers the team a bit of a respite from competition, but they will get back in the action on Jan. 10 and 11 in Buffalo.