By Tucker Henderson

Reporter

It’s a great achievement for anyone to qualify for state competition in any sport and even more so to place more than once. Elijah Geiser, New York Mills High School senior, did just that as he returned to the state speech competition this past weekend for the second time after taking second place at the section meet in Humorous Interpretation.

“We were standing in the commons waiting for the finals poster to drop and when it finally did I didn’t see my name until my mom zoomed in on her phone and at the very bottom was a little seven that said Elijah,” said Geiser. “Usually final round have six people, but since there was an unbreakable tie they added a seventh speaker.

“Only the top three make it to state, so this was a tough round,” he continued. “When I heard that I made top three, I was ecstatic and proud to know that I made it to state this year.”

Three years ago Geiser received second place at the section tournament and attended the state competition with teammates Payton Lausten and Brooke Sonsalla. Last year, his friends qualified for state, but he narrowly missed out in being a finalist by one place in the preliminary rounds.

“I was devastated,” said Geiser of last year’s section competition. “The last category was poetry, my category, and may name was not up there.”

This year, however, is a different story as he secured his spot for state and looks forward to the opportunities to compete at that level again this year.

“I am both excited and nervous to perform Barbie for the biggest crowds I’ll ever see at a speech meet,” he said. “But I’m also looking forward to doing my best and just having a lot of laughs!”

Geiser said that he usually enters in the poetry category, having chosen “Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman earlier this season, but accepted a suggestion from his coaches to try out in the humor category instead.

“I was extremely anxious about this season,” said Geiser. “I was trying to figure out which topic I wanted to choose for poetry and I was just so lost. I settled on ‘Song of Myself’ and it started off terribly, I didn’t make it to finals at all. Then my coaches suggested Barbie.

“I double entered and I got first in poetry and third in humor! Then came the daunting task of picking only one category for sub-sections came up and I constantly flipped back and forth and finally, on the deadline, I chose humor. And thank goodness I did.”

Geiser performed the screen play “Barbie” by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach in the category of humor at the state competition. He mentioned that it was a large shift from poetry and commented that it was “like the polar opposite” because of much of his previous performance’s sad tone.

“Elijah’s season didn’t start the way any of us expected,” said coach Leah Roberts-Veazie. “His poetry wasn’t landing competitively, and after the success he had in Poetry Interpretation last year, it was tough to watch his confidence start to slip. So we pivoted. We suggested adding Humorous Interpretation as a second event alongside Poetry—just to see if it might give him a better competitive edge and help him rediscover some of that confidence.

“We build a 10-minute cutting from Barbie (2023), and he had it memorized quickly,” she continued. “But even then, the results didn’t come right away. That was frustrating, because here is a kid who has worked his tail off to put up two strong events, and neither was earning him medals.”

Roberts-Veazie said that the tide started to turn around March when Geiser began to find success in both of his events which in turn, created a dilemma: which event to take to subsections? She and Geiser both commented how glad they were that he chose Humor as it landed him a qualifying chance at state.

“It’s emotional to think about how much Elijah packed into his Speech career,” said Roberts-Veazie. “He joined as a sophomore and has qualified for the state speech tournament twice, in different events. Just as importantly, he’s drawn attention to speech itself. He’s a multi-sport athlete, a lifeguard, an FFA competitor, a youth group participant, a former wrestler and a student leader—and people from each of those circles have started paying attention to speech because of him.

“So many who might never have noticed this activity have taken an interest, and I’m incredibly grateful for that,” she continued. “The attention our program has received because of his involvement is something that simply wouldn’t have happened otherwise, and it’s left a lasting mark on our team and our community. Elijah contains multitudes—and I feel incredibly lucky to have coached him.”

As a senior, Geiser makes his last foray into the Minnesota State High School League speech competitions, but he has found a great deal of life experience in lessons, friends, and a positive mental attitude through his three years in speech at the NY Mills High School.

“The most impactful lesson I have learned through speech is that no matter how discouraged you are in something it is possible to bounce back, improve, and succeed,” he said.