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   Last weekend was busy for northern Minnesota. The Boys State Hockey Tournament, playoff basketball games, and regular season speech competitions drew everyone’s attention in different directions. Amidst this wonderful chaos, the WHA Speech Team had the opportunity to host its annual home speech tournament. On Saturday, 20 teams and 250 speakers entered WHA High School to compete in the 54th Chuck Beckman Memorial speech tournament. After three preliminary rounds of speaking, an honor final, and a final round, the Walker Talkers left with 10 awards.

   The following speakers earned a red ribbon for their performances: Ava Diekmann in Prose, Layla Krueckeberg in Poetry, and Jace Ungerecht in Humor. 

   The following speakers placed into the honor final round of their categories: Zoe Cox placed 4th in Drama; Trevor Kuechle placed 5th in Great Speeches, Brooklyn Hanson placed 3rd in Informative, and Elaina Dascalos placed 3rd in Prose. 

   The following speakers advanced in the final round of their categories: Sophia Undem placed 5th in Poetry, Isaias Jimenez McMurrin placed 5th in Oratory and Elijah Cox placed 2nd in prose. 

   In the team awards, Staples Motley, Bemidji, and Duluth East placed 1st through 3rd respectively. Walker placed 12th overall. 

   The Walker Talker coaching staff is endlessly thankful for the ability to host this tournament, and this could not be done without the support of the community. The following families, individuals, and local businesses sponsored this tournament: Megan Yeats, Lauren and Kaiti Farrell, Heidi Damar Jensen, Jeff Haugen, Robyn Berdol & Mike Worcester, Deb Farrell, Benedict Outpost, Krystal Holmberg, Myrna Howes, Ochs Family, Jackie Bruns, Casey Cyko, Teah Kuekle, MayRinda Cain, Ungerect Family, Liz Anderson, Benedict Outpost, Regan Tabaka, Todd Scheck, The McMurrin Family, Cristin Undem, Kathleen Cox, Nevill Eclov, Myrna Howes, Kathleen Cox, Jill Kerrigan, Reeds, Pederson Dental, Walker Home Center, Fuller Wallner, Casey, Leech Lake Chamber, First National Bank, Sarah Morrison, and Laura Hanson.   

   Additionally, we would like to thank the administration, teaching and support staff, and custodians for providing and maintaining a beautiful space for our team to host. 

   Finally, we would like to extend our deepest gratitude to the volunteers: The Cox family, the Ungerecht family, Linsey McMurrin, Cristin Undem, The Keuchle family, Deanna Miller, Lydia Krueckeberg, the Bullivant family, Kristin Holly, Kayla Rocholl, Jackie Diekmann, Billy Miles, and MayRinda Cain. Thank you for everything you provided and your endless support of this team. 

   Moving forward, the team will take a much needed pause while the school is off for spring break. When we return, the team will attend its last invitational tournament in Melrose. Additionally, some high school team members will compete at the NSDA Qualifier. Finally, on the last day in March, the entire team will compete in the Subsection 29A tournament to determine the section qualifiers. 

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