Season-long bridesmaids to Cheyenne East, the Jackson Hole High School Speech and Debate Team finally bested their rivals with a first place showing at the Bobcat Invitational, hosted Hot Springs County High School, January 15-16.
The Jackson team earned an overall 74 points for the team 4A sweepstakes. Cheyenne East took second with 23 points.
It was the Jackson Public Forum squad’s turn to shine. Jackson had four teams competing in the event. Senior and team captain Josh Hansen paired with sophomore Ventura Garcia Perez, juniors Lily Briggs and Will Aepli, sophomores Jheili Montiel Huerta and Alexis Hernandez, and juniors Sarah Schweitzer and Carter Worcester all moved through the competition nearly flawlessly.
The teams helped Jackson tie for first place to close out the semifinals of the event. Jackson’s strong suit, Congressional Debate, didn’t exactly take the tourney off, either. Aepli emerged as champion in the event. He was followed closely by Hansen in 2nd, Worcester in 3rd and Briggs in 5th.
Extemporaneous Speaking was another place Jackson excelled. Schweitzer placed 2nd in the event with Montiel Huerta finishing in 3rd place and Hernandez taking 4th.
The Jackson team competes at the Star Valley Cyberspace Odyssey next weekend.
The team is planning its own virtual invitational tournament scheduled for Feb 1-6, 2021. For the home tournament, the Speech Team is in need of about 200 volunteers to judge for approximately an hour and a half each.
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