Speech Spectacular goes virtual
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MARSHALL -- The eagerly-awaited Marshall Speech Spectacular--a cherished annual high school speech event comprised of 34 schools from six states--had a significantly different look and feel to it in its 21st year of competition on Saturday.
Held at what would normally be a bustling Marshall High School filled with thousands of people, this year's tournament had a much quieter atmosphere as the event moved to a virtual format due to COVID.
Instead of performing in front of a live audience, participants completed their speeches in front of a web camera as judges and fellow competitors watched live on their computer.
In spite of all of the changes, Marshall speech coach Rick Purrington was pleased with how the tournament went given the circumstances.
"Overall, I mean we're still having a very fine tournament. The kids are still having fun and still competing," said Purrington.
The virtual format had been utilized only once in Minnesota high school speech prior to Saturday's Speech Spectacular. As expected, the process took patience with some technical issues arising at times during the event.
"It might just be one kid who tried to speak in front of a judge and that one student is having technical issues, or it might even be a bigger thing where we're trying to livestream some final rounds to people all over the country and we're having audio issues with that trying to make the livestream work as smoothly," added Purrington. "If it's not one thing, it's usually another that pops up, but we're all kind of learning this as we go and every time we do it I suppose."
Marshall High School had 43 participants in the prestigious event with five ending the day as finalists in their respective categories. As a team, the Tigers placed fourth among the 34 schools with Eastview taking the top spot with a first-place finish, followed by Eagan in second, Westonka in third and The Potomac School from Virginia placing fifth. Virginia was one of five states outside of Minnesota represented in the competition that included schools from South Dakota, Iowa, Colorado and Texas.
Senior co-captain Zoe Verbach, one of 43 Marshall High School participants at the event, was pleased with how the competition unfolded.
"It was actually more similar to what we've done in past years than I expected," said Verbach. People have been really good about keeping their cameras on during a round when they're not speaking which obviously helps it be more engaging. For the most part, judges have done a great job of keeping people engaged in the rounds and running the rounds very smoothly, so I've been happy with how it's gone so far."
Verbach competed in the original oratory and great speeches events in Saturday's tournament where she had the best finish of all Tiger competitors with a second place finish in the varsity great speeches category and 10th in original oratory.
Fellow senior co-captain Bethany Greathouse took part in the Program Oral Interpretation (POI) and poetry events where she earned a sixth-place finish. Greathouse said she enjoys both events as they both offer their own unique challenges.
"I've been in poetry since I was in seventh grade, so it's just been a habit to be in that category," said Greathouse. "I like the emotion that you portray in POI because you have social issues that you deal with."
Marshall senior Noah Dunn, freshman Lydia Weverka and Sophia Gaul joined Greathouse and Vorbach as varsity finalists. Dunn finished in fourth-place in the infomative event, Weverka earned a fourth-place finish in prose, while Gaul took fifth in original oratory.