From Great Bend High School Forensics coach Kim Heath...
Great Bend High School was named the Season-Wide Forensics Coaches Invitational Team Sweeps Champion on Saturday at the annual FCI tournament. The host school district this year was Buhler. This Season-Wide Sweepstakes recognizes the overall season success of the Panthers and is based on the total qualifications earned by the forensics squad as a whole.
The purpose of the FCI tournament is twofold. First, it is a celebration and a showcase of the talented students across the state. Secondly, a team of highly qualified judges provide a final opportunity for the performers to receive feedback before the state competition.
Panther Forensics Coach Kim Heath explained, “To qualify for FCI, students must have a state championship qualification with multiple other placings and/or a national tournament qualification.” She continued, “This is a tournament we look forward to all season long! It draws the best of the best from all of the KSHSAA classifications.”
During lunch, four FCI student-nominated competitors performed for the crowd of attendees, coaches and judges. Our Duo Interpretation team of Eave and Thomas were chosen by their fellow competitors for the showcase.
In the tournament itself, Great Bend finished in 2nd Place to Lansing. Maddix Pokorski won 1st Place in Extemporaneous Speaking and 5th Place in Impromptu Speaking. Eave Taylor and Thomas Henrikson took home the gold in Duo Interpretation. Alondra Alvarez placed 2nd in Prose and 6th in Impromptu. In Dramatic Interpretation, Milena Carbajal was 3rd and Xanna Smith was 4th. Milena also won 4th Place in Poetry. Tommy Henrikson finished 4th Place in Humorous Interpretation. Darcy Feist placed 2nd in both Original Oration and Program of Oral Interpretation. Anna Bitter took 6th Place in Program of Oral Interpretation, and Quinton Heath was 6th in Prose. Reese King finished 9th in Informative Speaking.
Chrisangel Adame will join this team of students on Saturday to compete at the 5A KSHSAA State Championship at Valley Center. To qualify for the Championships, each student placed first or second at a regular tournament.
Although GBHS qualified over 30 entries for the State Champs, each school is limited to 16 total entries. The remainder of Great Bend’s qualifiers will perform at the State Festival at Wichita Southeast High School on Saturday. The eight GBHS students representing the Panthers at the
State Festival will include Theo Hokinson-Smith, Chanler Riley, Danica Cline, Lea Nokes, Ailey Williams, Hannah Hopkins, Keaton Kruckenberg, and Ellie Damm.