Emery High speech and debate placed second in the 2A State meet on Saturday at American Leadership Academy in Spanish Fork.
The team finished with 58 points in a tie for second with Beaver High. However, due to the tie-breaking procedure Emery took home the second place trophy. Summit Academy finished as state champions with 70 points. It was unexpected that Emery would finish this high at state due to a mediocre showing at the region competition on February 22.
Emery’s team made some revisions and worked hard to polish its debate cases and individual event speeches.
“These students were disappointed with their effort at the region meet and worked very hard to improve their craft prior to the state meet,” debate coach Tom Hansen said. “They deserve all the credit for their accomplishments.”
The following individuals placed at the state meet: for the oratory category, the state champion first place went to Justin Jennings for his cowboy poetry on helping others stand for what’s right and overcome bullying. In spontaneous argumentation, second place went to Jason Roberts and the quarterfinalist was Devin Wilson. For the Lincoln Douglas debate “Should the US promote Democracy in the Middle East?” third place was awarded to Wilson. Travis Fehlberg received second place for impromptu speech and student congress. In the public forum debate “Should the US relocate the military bases on the Island of Okinawa?” the quarterfinalists were Riley Rasmusen and Kyler Wakefield.