CCS Speech team second at Saturday’s home invite

Chase County’s Speech season is off and running. The Longhorns placed 10 in the top six at their home meet Saturday.
CCS Head Coach Alex Schilke said she was pleased with what she saw at the invite, both in performances and the way team members interacted.
Four performances placed first.
George Colton won Entertainment Speaking, Andrew Wiest won Serious Prose and Jayme Gittlein won Persuasive Speaking.
Colton, Wiest Navy Smith, and Kevin Dannatt won Oral Interpretation of Drama.
Paige Nickless and Wiest placed second and third, respectively, in Humorous Prose.
Also placing were Jasmine Johnson, Entertainment Speaking, fourth; Katelyn Stamm and Johnson, Duet Acting, sixth; Beau Weiss, Extemporaneous Speaking, sixth; and Dannatt, Informative Speaking, sixth.
Returning performers, Stamm, Johnson, Nickless, Colton, Wiest, Smith and Gittlein, were praised by Schilke for their mentorship of new team members, Chloe Colton, Andee Schoenholz, Dannatt and Weiss.
“Our team members are excited for each other, and that is more of a win to me than the number of medals we receive. This team mentality also excites me to see how our speaker’s performances will grow each week,” Schilke said, adding that new assistant coach Peyton Rowley is bringing a fresh and exciting approach to the team.
Perkins County ran away in the team standings, outscoring CCS 87-39. Hershey was third, followed by Sutherland, North Platte St. Pat’s and Cambridge.
Schilke said she’d like to thank everyone who helped the meet go as smoothly as it did, including CCS staff for the use of their rooms, the judges who helped provide feedback and the CCS cheerleaders for running concessions, as well as Activities Director Troy Hauxwell for helping with hospitality and the custodians for having the  school look amazing.
CCS will travel to the Wallace Invite Saturday.
With a meet under their belt, Schilke said her performers will take feedback provided and revise/edit/tweak scripts, speeches and performances.
Schilke is also hopeful her team will add a few more speakers and pieces.