GRHS Speech and Debate Takes Second at State

GRHS Speech and Debate Takes Second at State

The GRHS speech and debate team took second place at state this year and had several national qualifiers.

GREEN RIVER — It was a massively successful season for the Green River High School Speech and Debate team in which they placed second at the 3A state tournament.

Green River placed second with 49 points, with Riverton taking first with 51 points and Jackson coming in third with 47 points.

“This season was awesome, we finished first or second at almost every single tournament,” head coach Dan Parson said.

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Parson has been coaching speech and debate for 20 years, with this past season being his last as he has announced he is retiring from the coaching scene. However, he believes he is going out on a high note with this team being his last.

“This is a team that started as really young, not a lot of upperclassmen, and they just came together and made it a family. There’s a tremendous level of acceptance and support and encouragement among these guys that made coaching them incredibly easy because they were so self-directed and so self-motivated. If you canceled practice for some reason they got upset, they wanted it not just for themselves, but they really did want it for everybody. It’s really cool. I’ve been doing this for a long time and it doesn’t always come together like that,” Parson said.

Assistant coach Nick Hoskins said he believes every trial and tribulation throughout the season brought them together to make an even stronger group. This winter was tough on all activities and speech and debate was not immune. They were snowed in a few times and their bus even broke down a couple times.

“This team became a family and it was simply beautiful,” Hoskins said.

Younger team members write send off messages for the seniors during the team’s banquet and ice cream social.

Parson explained that along with the weather, residual impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic were working against the team.

“COVID hit the team so hard a couple years ago and we’ve been slowly building back. Last year we didn’t even place, we were going home early at state. This year we took second, we missed it by only two points, we were so close to the state championship. The kids grew tremendously,” Parson said.

The team also received a lot of support from the community through a booster club. Parson believes that next season the Wolves will be a force to be reckoned with.

“We had just tremendous support from the community and from former competitors and it was just amazing. And it showed, and next year they’re not going to know what hit them. We’re really going to be competitive next year. And I’ll watch it from the sidelines,” Parson said.

The speech and debate team celebrates after a meet earlier this year. Courtesy photo

State Results

  • Jasper Kennah – 6th place in Poetry, 6th place in POl
  • Sariah Maez – State Oratory Semifinalist
  • Kaylee Noyes – State Octo-finalist Lincoln-Douglas Debate
  • Abigail Smith – 3rd place in Oratory, 4th place in Drama
  • Mason Tollefson – State Duo Semifinalist
  • Lukas Bagshaw – 3rd place in Policy Debate
  • Faith Duncan – State “Student Ambassador Award” winner, Extemporaneous Speaking Semifinalist, State Champion Lincoln-Douglas Debate
  • Jordan Poling – 3rd place in Policy Debate
  • William Robertson – Quarter Finalist in Lincoln-Douglas Debate
  • Elle Taylor – State Duo Semifinalist

Other members of the state squad includes Illi Birmingham, Bekalyn Swett, Makynzee Bagshaw, Silas Chetterback, James Leffers, Laural Kurth and Kyra Holmes.

The national qualifiers celebrating their achievements. Courtesy photo

National Qualifiers

  • Faith Duncan in Extemporaneous Speaking
  • Abby Smith in Drama and Oratory
  • Sariah Maez in Oratory
  • Will Robertson in Lincoln-Douglas Debate
  • James Leffers in Congress
  • Kaylee Noyes in Big Question

Alternates:

  • Bekalyn Swett in Informative Speaking
  • Silas Chetterback in Extemporaneous Speaking
  • James Leffers in Extemporaneous Speaking
  • Kaylee Noyes in Lincoln-Douglas Debate
  • Mason Tollefson in Duo
  • Lukas Bagshaw in Policy Debate
  • Faith Duncan in Lincoln-Douglas Debate and Congress
  • Jordan Poling in Policy Debate
  • Elle Taylor in Duo