Lausten takes first at DGF meet

Contrbuted photos
The New York Mills varsity (above) and junior high (below) speech teams are in the thick of their season. The varsity team recently competed at a meet at Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton, while the junior high team competed in Parkers Prairie. 

On Saturday, Feb. 3, the New York Mills speech team competed against 22 other schools at the 39th annual invitational in Dilworth-Glendon-Felton. This was a tough meet with over 250 competitors. 

The meet consisted of three preliminary rounds with no finals or honor final rounds. 

Payton Lausten placed first in Prose Interpretation with Tamira Ireland Stone’s Young Adult Novel, Every Last Word. (Lausten won each of her preliminary rounds for a top-notch score of 1, 1, 1.)

Simon Resing earned Superior in Informative Speaking with a speech he wrote on the future of nuclear fusion. 

Brooke Sonsalla for earned Excellence in Discussion (this week’s discussion tasks were about the accuracies and fallacies of digital media, the role of television in fostering communication, and the local, state, and federal roles of regulating digital communication.)

Sawyer Pakkala earned Excellence in Humorous Interpretation with Kelly Meadow’s humorous monologue, Accumulating Cats.

The Junior High Speech team competed at Parkers Prairie on Monday, Feb. 5. 

Lilja Pakkala placed second in Dramatic Interpretation with Matt Buchanan’s monologue, Lily.

Julia Johnson placed third in Great Speeches with her analysis of Emma Watson’s Speech for Gender Equality at the UN Women HeForShe Campaign.

Reegan Baymler and Lilly Anderson placed fifth in Duo Interpretation with Carolyn West’s comedy skit, The Best Escape.

Esne Lien and Alyssa Korkowski earned Superior in Duo Interpretation with Tina Fey’s Mean Girls.

Garrett Uselman earned Excellence in Humorous Interpretation with an episode of the Netflix series Young Sheldon.