Speech State Tournament 2024: Advance Release
Posted: Wednesday, April 17, 2024 - 12:01 PM
Minnesota’s top competitors in Speech will gather at Shakopee High School for the 2024 Speech State Tournament this weekend. The Class A students will compete on Friday, April 19, with three rounds in each of the 13 categories starting at 10:15 a.m. The day will conclude with a championship round at 3:30 p.m. An awards ceremony is scheduled for approximately 5:30 p.m.
The Class AA competition will follow the same schedule on Saturday, April 20. The Speech State Tournament is open to the public with free admission.
There are seven returning champions in Class A, and all will compete in the same categories they won previously. Rowan Mulrooney of Mounds Park Academy is back in Informative Speaking and Savanna Loken of Winona Cotter returns in Serious Interpretation of Drama. Gavin Eischens of St. Clair defends his crown in Serious Interpretation of Poetry and Pahwa Yang of Mounds Park Academy is looking for her second consecutive title in Serious Interpretation of Prose.
Rebecca Copeman of Chatfield is the final defending champion; she is looking for her second consecutive championship in Humorous Interpretation and her third medal overall.
Two additional Class A champions who earned titles in 2022 return in their respective categories. Drew Pundsack of Melrose Area returns in Creative Expression and Akshay Somayajula of Mounds Park Academy is back in Great Speeches. In addition to Copeman, Pundsack and Yang are also looking for their third medals.
Leif Carlson of Moorhead and Mariam Elias Danjuma of White Bear Lake Area lead a group of four returning champions in Class AA. Carlson, who won in Serious Interpretation of Drama in 2023, will face Elias Danjuma in Serious Interpretation of Prose this year. Elias Danjuma won in Prose last year.
The two remaining champions return in the same category: Sahiti Atluri of Eastview in Creative Expression and Halle Browning of Chaska in Great Speeches. Carlson and Browning are both in the hunt for their third medals.
For links to the schedule, results and souvenir tournament program, please visit www.mshsl.org/speech
