Decorah excels at Large Group State Speech Contest

Approximately 190 Decorah High School students participated in the Northeast State Large Group Speech Contest hosted at Decorah High School on February 3. Over 115 high schools participated in the contest, with close to 3000 students and spectators enjoying the performances throughout the day. Of the 28 entries the Vikings took to state contest, 26 came home with a top Division I Rating.

The DHS Varsity team received nineteen overall Division I Rating and the DHS 9th team received seven Division I Ratings. DHS speech students are coached by Molly Holkesvik, Thomas Houdek, Carrie Kauffman, Karen Trewin, Gabe Twedt, and Kristen Underwood.

The performances selected by the judges as outstanding material will perform at the All-State Speech Festival on February 17 at the Iowa State Center in Ames. Those results will be posted on the IHSSA website found at www.ihssa.org late Monday afternoon.

"As directors, we couldn't be more proud of our students and the way they represented Decorah High School on Saturday with not only their best performances of the season, but also their effort into hosting a contest of this magnitude. We also need to thank our faithful fans for their great support all day long by volunteering to work at contest and by packing the performance centers with supportive audiences. We are lucky to be part of such a strong community that supports the deep-rooted DHS speech team tradition," stated the coaches.

DHS Varsity speech groups receiving Division I Ratings include one-act play, readers theater, choral reading, three ensemble actings, three musical theaters, one group improvisation, one group mime, three solo mimes, two short films, two television news, and one radio broadcasting.  Cast lists for those groups are as follows:

One-Act Play "The Whole Shebang" Patrick Bockman, Isabelle Elwood, Jenna Galligan, Dawson Holkesvik, Jordyn Hussain, Allie Jermier, Carston Krieg, Andrew Magner, Landon Miller, Jake Muhlbauer, Sam Robinson, Seth Shindelar, Brynne Valkosky, Carina Yee

Readers Theater "Starcatcher" Jackson Berlage, Shayla Betts, Katie Bjergum, Emma Fretheim, Evie Holyoake, Sydney Landstrom, Celia Lesmeister, Sarah Mumford, Josie Numedahl, Angel Pena, Kaj Spencer, Britta Swanson, Katie Valkosky, Sam Wilson

Choral Reading "Butterflies of Terrezin" Maddie Fahey, Emily Franzen, Mara Frieden, Kaya Hougen, Maggy Hovden, Maillie McCabe, Lauren Raddatz, Jenna Raddatz, Kaitlyn Rooney, Ella Runestad, Mya Sullivan, Natalie Tapscott

Ensemble Acting "Confessions of a High School Bathroom" Erin Dintaman, Sydney Landstrom, Rylea Ranum, Emma Rooney, Sophie Schwarz

Ensemble Acting "Mertonsire and the Pirate's Tale" Hayden Carlson, Lillian Grouws, Josh Nierengarten, Will Schwarz, Abigail Toussaint, Sawyer Vanden Brink

Ensemble Acting "Circle Mirror Transformation" Owen Burgdorf-Hibbs, Michael Cook, Payton Schutte, Lily Smith, Abby Trewin

Musical Theater "Les Miserables" Avery Dugger, Lillian Grouws, Gus Hayes, Jordyn Hussain, Carston Krieg, Lily Smith, Abby Trewin, Sam Wilson

Musical Theater "The Breakfast Club" Finn Deen-Lester, Annette Leschensky, Mitchell Leschensky, Sarah Mumford, Kaj Spencer

Musical Theater "#teambride" Christian Johnson, Kaylee Knight, Tori Miller, Alex Nesset, Rylea Ranum, Sophie Schwarz, Katie Storlie

Group Improvisation: Andrew Kephart, Tori Miller, Jake Muhlbauer, Austin Myli, Josh Nierengarten

Group Mime "Behind the Mask" Rebecca Klotzbach, Celia Lesmeister, Danielle Lundtvedt, Abby Pedlar, Natalie Tapscott, Kaitlin Walter

Solo Mime "Powder Room Playtime" Katie Valkosky

Solo Mime "Work in Progress" Mya Herrmann

Solo Mime "Angel of Warsaw" Katie Storlie

Short Film "Insecure" Nick Bockman, Avery Dugger, Erick Fadness, Maddie Fahey, Olivia Fahey, Jenna Galligan, Dawson Holkesvik, Evie Holyoake, Andrew Kozelka, Brayden Krivachek, Lars Marquardt, Alex Nesset, Jarod Phillips, Kaitlyn Rooney, Brynne Valkosky

Short Film "Regret" Sydney Byrnes, Audrey Casterton, Joe Courtney, Nate Darling, Finn Deen-Lester, Vita Domnenko, Braden Elton, Anna Hanson, Logan Hauber, Nils Holkesvik, Ruby Langholz, Skylar Malone, Mya Sullivan, Rachelle Sullivan

Television News "Controversy" Kiersten Benson, Owen Burgdorf-Hibbs, Chance Elton, Emma Fretheim, Mazzi Hanson, Thomas Hendrickson, Rachel Hines, Amanda Kuehner, Katie Nimrod, Abby Pedlar, Greta Ransom, Emma Rooney, Ian Smith, Kari Tangen, Dan Willie

Television News "Renew" Dawson Bauer, Kylie Bergo, Shayla Betts, Katie Bjergum, Conner Cook, Blake Donlon, Isaac Fish, Alli Groux, Jonah Johnson, Billy Lange, Ann Meirick, Andy Murphy, Kalea Oftedahl, Isaac Roberts, Leah Weis

Radio Broadcasting "KPGN" Katherine Bruening, Nils Holkesvik, Janaye Lundtvedt, Sophia Maguina, James Paulson, Kylus Pettit-Ehler, Alexis Svestka, Sophie Weis

DHS 9th speech groups receiving Division I Ratings include readers theater, choral reading, one musical theater, one group improvisation, one short film, one television news, and one radio broadcasting. Cast lists for those groups are as follows:

Readers Theater "The Invisible Dragon" Edwin Holyoake, Maggie Kane, Izzy Kingsbury, Cooper McElree, David Olson, Sarah Pedlar

Choral Reading "Adventures of Rainbow Fish" Kendra Bigler, Morgan Brauer, Keely Hermanson, Maggie Kane, Amanda Kavan, Anja Madsen, Abby Milburn, Mya Numedahl, Clara Rooney, Samantha See, Payton Taylor, Grace Thompson

Musical Theater "The Daughters" Ally Bouska, Sofie Grouws, Amber Hussain, Leila Johnson

Group Improvisation: Morgan Brauer, Tyler Irwin, Jane Murphy, Peter Wilson

Short Film "Perspective" Gabriel Anderson, Matthew Baker, Emma Brauer, Kaitlyn Golly, Brady Hogan, Amber Hussain, Ella Kittelson, James Marx, Kaia Neal, Darin Rude, Taryn Sanderman, Matthew Smith, Noah Tapscott, Payton Taylor, Tasha Trumble
 
Television News "KRAZ" Lexi Averhoff, Baylor Bohr, Cai Brevig, Kiana Folkedahl, Lydia Ihde, Tyler Irwin, Noah Lovelace, Jenna Lundtvedt, James Marx, Mason O'Hara, Cady Peterson, Tate Schissel, Benton Sparrow, Luke Walter

Radio Broadcasting "TRUE" Lexi Averhoff, James Groux, Alysa Hanson, Brady Hogan, Josie Ryan, Cassie Wyatt

Other DHS speech groups who also competed at the state contest are as follows:

Group Improvisation: Brayden Krivachek, Hallie Johnson, Megan Robinson, Jordan Sabanish, Sawyer Vanden Brink

Group Mime "Gone Fishin'" Jackson Berlage, Hayden Carlson, Courtney Holm, Kaya Hougen, Kaylee Knight, Maddie Putnam