Viking speakers host invitational
Minneota continued its rise through the ranks with a second-place finish in the large-team division in its own Viking Invitational on Saturday. “I think we are going to have a really good team this year,” said senior Sean Dilley, flashing a wide smile.
There were around 200 students from 17 different school competing in the meet. “It was a great day for the Vikings as several placed in the top of their respective categories,” said Coach Kim Gades.
“It was an especially bittersweet day for the four seniors that competed for us.” Dilley, Zoe DeBoer, Jacob Haen and Brenden Kimpe, all seniors, placed at the top in at least one of the categories they competed in. “These four have all been a part of the since they were in sixth grade,” Gades noted.
“And they have been an integral part of not only the team’s success in recent years, but also the team’s leadership and recruiting.” DeBoer placed first in Storytelling, Dilley was first in Informative, and Kimpe and Haen finished first in Duo.
Katie Walerius, a junior, was first in Original Oratory.Sophomore Emma Lipinski finished second in Great Speeches and sophomore Alyssa Engels was second in Original Oratory. Kimpe was also second in Extemporaneous Speaking, while Haen also placed third in the Humorous category. Minneota placed 11 of 16 members competing in the top six, while three more were awarded ducks (ribbons) for placing just out of the top six.
Minneota was also missing two other seniors, Natalie Bot and Tara Thooft in Duo, due to Bot competing in the Section 3A dance competition for Canby-Minneota. Their return will add leadership and experience to the team. Minneota finished only two points behind large-school division winning Luverne. The Vikings also finished second overall in the 17-team field.
“It’s customary for host schools to not take their own trophy,” said Gades. “So the Vikings presented the second-place trophy to the team from Worthington.”
Minneota Assistant Coach Amanda Engels utilized her creativity to create a fun atmosphere for the visiting teams throughout the day.
“From the plaques, spinning medals, ribbons and rubber ducks, to the coffee cakes judges and coaches raved about,” Gades noted.
“And even in the draw room where students worked a little harder and did three draws in a more fun setting. “Amanda set up a sucker tree, duck pond and punch-out game to keep things interesting in the draw room. We chose to do three draws because that will be expected of students who qualify for the state tournament in April. A thanks also goes to our parent volunteers because we really couldn’t do this meet without them.”
Several Minneota team members were competing for the first time this season: eighth-grader Cora Fischer in Great Speeches, freshman Reagan Bierschenk in Informative, freshman Ella Bot in Extemporaneous Reading, freshman Joey Clark in Storytelling, and sophomore Morgan Wersal in Poetry.
Minneota’s Junior High team (grades 6-9) competes Tuesday in Tracy, while the varsity (7-12) competes on Saturday in Luverne.
MINNEOTA RESULTS:
(First place) Brenden Kimpe-Jacob Haen, Duo Sean Dilley, Informative; Katie Walerius, Original Oratory; Zoe DeBoer, Storytelling
(Second place) Brenden Kimpe, Extemporaneous Speaking; Emma Lipinski, Great Speeches; Alyssa Engels, Original Oratory
(Third place) Jacob Haen, Humorous
(Fourth place) Emma Lipinski, Prose
(Sixth place) Tristan Bierschenk, Discussion; Reagan Bierschenk, Informative
(Ribbons) Wyatt Pohlen, Discussion Ella Bot, Extemporaneous Reading Joey Clark, Storytelling
Large-school division results: (1) Luverne (2) Minneota (presented to Worthington) (3) Marshall
Small-school division results: (1) Tracy-Milroy-Balaton (2) Westbrook-Walnut Grove (3) Pipestone