The Speech Regionals tournament was a major success for Marian Catholic High School, which took place on Saturday, February 7 at Southland College Prep.
On a Saturday Morning, the Speech team participated in two rounds, resulting in a victory for all members in the 14 events, who placed in the final rounds. Many other schools competed at the tournament such as Southland College Prep, Bolingbrook High School, and many more. The top 4 in each event is eligible to compete at the IHSA Speech sectionals tournament. Furthermore, every single Marian competitor in each of the 14 events not only was listed for a final round, but they had all advanced into Sectionals! Moreover, Marian’s PIR (Performance in the Round), which is a competitive 15-minute play in a circle, placed 1st place overall out of several other schools—the play is titled All Blues in the Sky. At the awards ceremony, many speech team members embraced their heartfelt gratitude towards the work and effort their coaches put in, and the experience that being on the speech team had brought them.
Nancy Onuchukwu, Senior Student, and DDA (Dramatic Duet Acting) Champion and Dramatic Interpretation Runner up said, “DDA was very unexpected and never in my days would I consider 1st place, I thought we were gonna get 3rd. Me and my partner put in a lot of work for a long time, I am very grateful to have her and I am grateful we both made it out of Sectionals.”
Daisy Oparanozie, Senior Student, and Runner Up in Radio Speaking remarked, “I feel like we were really working hard towards that, especially PIR people. I think me in particular I have been doing a lot of tedious things to make sure I was prepared, and it did payoff. Well you know, I’m advancing so there’s that. There’s always room for growth. I’m really proud of us as a team.”
The results from the Speech Regionals on February 7 are listed below: First Place: Nancy Onuchukwu & Onyinyechi Ikenyi-Dramatic Duet Acting, Noah Burks & Tori Cates-Humorous Duet Acting, Grace Manning-Impromptu Speaking and Original Oratory, Gabrielle Giden-Informative Speaking, Noah Burks-Oratorical Declamation, and Tyler Grayson-Special Occasion Speaking. Second Place: Nancy Onuchukwu-Dramatic Interpretation, Joseph Bojda-Extemporaneous Speaking, Alan Bertucci-Original Comedy, Onyinyechi Ikenyi-Poetry Reading, and Daisy Oparanozie-Radio Speaking. Third Place: Tyler Grayson-Humorous Interpretation, and Gabrielle Giden-Prose Reading. And Performance in the Round-Gabrielle Giden, Nicole Ruiz, Rae Thomas, Olamide Owasanoye, Ayomide Owasanoye, Isa Draus, Clara Raftery, Robyn Carroll, Alysse Hayden also captured First Place with their presentation of All the Blues in the Sky.