Speech takes on different look

After the loss of several veteran speakers to graduation, and having only one senior on the team, the Minneota Speech team will be relying on a youth movement this season.
"We lost a lot of experience in the class of 2020," said Gades, a two-time Section 3A Coach of the Year. "But, we have our veterans stepping up into those roles by recruiting and coming in with a positive attitude."
Speech meets will also be vastly different than in the past due to the restrictions put in place due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"Since our season will most likely remain virtual for the year, we will only be having varsity meets every Saturday," said coach Kim Gades. "However, our section is doing something a little different. We will also be running a junior high division so those students can receive awards in their own division as well as in the varsity division."
Katie Walerius is the lone senior on the team this season for the Vikings. She will compete in the Original Oratory category. There are several others back from last year, although all are underclassmen.
"Katie has really been working hard in her second year as a captain to get people excited about the season," Gades said. "We are happy to be able to compete. We have some people on this team who are hungry and want to do the work. I am excited for this season."Other veterans joining Walerius on this year's team will be: juniors Thomas Belaen in Storytelling, Tristan Bierschenk in Discussion, and Emma Lipinski in Great Speeches; sophomores Joey Clark in Storytelling and Reagan Bierschenk in Informative; freshman Cora Fischer in Great Speeches; and eighth-grader Wyatt Pohlen in Discussion.
"I have a few students who are still on the fence about joining due to competing virtually," Gades noted.
Newcomers to the team will be Norah Fadness, a junior, who will compete in Discussion. Fadness was about to join the team late last year when the COVID hit and she did not get a chance to participate.
Gades also noted that the team will be adding several sixth graders in Addison Buysse, Leah Coequyt, Amadeus Molina, Ava Panka, Brenna Meyer, and Nolan VanKeulen.
This year's team is still without an assistant coach to this point after Amanda Engels decided to step down due to a busy schedule.
This year's meets will be run virtually, per guidance from the Minnesota State High School League.
"Some of our meets will run synchronously and some will run asynchronously," Gades explained. "For the synchronous meets, each competitor will come to school and be sequestered in a classroom by themselves after a screening.
"Then, they can take their masks off to compete for judges through an online platform where they can see the judge and other competitors — similar to a Zoom or Google Meets meeting. The rules during the rounds stay the same as any other year."
Minneota will begin the virtual season this Saturday and then compete every Saturday until the end of the regular season on March 27. The sub-section will be held April 10 hosted by Minneota, followed by the section on April 17 hosted by SMSU, and the state tournament on April 24 hosted by Eastview High School.